December 2012 - luv-talk

Re: [luv-talk] Likelihood and consequence of MS distributing 'windblows' as a GUI built on Unix/ Linux ?
by Jason White 13 Dec '12

13 Dec '12

[Moving this to luv-talk] Rohan McLeod <rhn(a)jeack.com.au> wrote: > is it: 1/ possible 2/ likely and if it happened what would be the > consequences ? I would expect it to be possible at the cost of backward compatibility. It is extremely unlikely ever to happen: Microsoft have a modern kernel, the design of which is said to derive from Vax VMS. Apparently some of the VMS people went to Microsoft and developed what became the Windows NT kernel. In any case, given that Microsoft already have one of their own, there is absolutely no reason for them to change. Apple didn't have a kernel capable of preemptive multi-tasking, as I recall, so they developed a derivative of 4.4 BSD and then used technologies from NextStep for the GUI. So as far as I know there's no parallel at all here.

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Cheap Android Media Player
by Aryan Ameri 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

I'm thinking about a Android Media Player to use as a HTPC (and to bring Android to my TV). There are various devices on Deal Extreme, from HDMI/USB sticks costing about $50-$60 to more STB-like devices with remotes for about $130. Many of them (Like the Mele A1000/A2000 (which seem to be pretty popular) use the Allwinner A10 CPU (single core Cortex-A8) while some of the higher end ones use dual-core Cortex-A9 CPUs. Some run Gingerbread, many run ICS and some newer ones are even running Jellybean (4.1). My question is, has anyone used any of these? Are they any good? I know XBMC now has a (in development) Android port, is it usable? Is Android usable with just a traditional remote as its input method? Or should I just wait for something solid, like Ouya, to show up? Alternatively, does anyone use the Roku/Netflix+ combo here in Australia? Cheers -- Aryan

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cheap Android tablets
by Russell Coker 06 Dec '12

06 Dec '12

http://aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_24562.htm On Wednesday Aldi will sell a 7" tablet running Android 4.0 for $99. It's got 512M of RAM and 16G of storage but only a 800*480 screen (the same resolution as a lot of phones). I'm not sure whether I'll buy one at this time, getting another Android test device for a mere $99 is a good deal, but the resolution sucks a bit. http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/10-inch-tablet-pc-android-16gb/ Kogan has a 10" tablet with 1024*768 resolution for $189 plus shipping, maybe $210 all up. It's a fairly decent tablet (I own one and a couple of relatives have them), but a lot more expensive. http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/google-nexus-7-16gb/ Then there's the Nexus 7 for $229 plus shipping which has a 1280*800 display but it's only 7". It's a Nexus so there's got to be some nice features, and it has Android 4.1. I'll probably get a $99 tablet because even if I don't use it much I won't feel bad about wasting $99. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_S_3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Note_2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droid_DNA Next year when prices drop after Christmas I'll buy a fancy new phone. Currently I'm looking at the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, or something like the HTC Droid DNA aka J Butterfly. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

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Re: [luv-talk] which team for Ingress?
by Russell Coker 05 Dec '12

05 Dec '12

On Fri, 16 Nov 2012, Someone <info(a)ameri.me> wrote: > Of course, the Enlightened! Please reply to the list and address the issue of why the possibly mind- controlling team is a better fit than the Resistance given the way we oppose MS etc. Note that I don't have strong feelings either way, but we need to make a decision on this if we are to be on the same team. It seems that Google have designed this to have the difference between the teams be fairly ambiguous. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

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