Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 9th Apr 2009 19:33 UTC
We've all seen the early demos of something called "BumpTop", a sort of 3D desktop where files are presented as 3D objects with physical properties. Recently, the project moved from concept to product with the release of BumpTop 1.0. The big question now is: are we dealing with the next big thing in desktop computing, or just a gimmick?
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RE: Comment by Hae-Yu
by Bill Shooter of Bul on Tue 14th Apr 2009 05:01
in reply to "Comment by Hae-Yu"
Member since:2006-07-14
Most of these are forced into a sequential flow due to the UI limitation, but this can be opened up with multi-touch.
Multi-touch isn't the only way to do non sequential flows in interfaces. And I would argue, not the best interface for gaming machines where the majority of the users are not young. But, what do I know, I only designed the interface on one video poker machine
Member since:2006-01-12
That's why I said "most" and not all.
I think multi-touch, like 3D, would be an enhancement, in the same way judicious 3D has usefully enhanced the desktop vs using 3D as the driving context, such as this bumptop. Multi-touch isn't the only way to do non-sequential flow, but it is a valid tool, if used wisely.
I understand the complete context of your user environment - bar mounted units have drinks, ashtrays cigarette ashes, and/ or food trays set on them. People sit, possibly stand or dance, on them. You wouldn't want a stray touch to ruin a users' game.
However, I just wouldn't rule it out for every possible touch screen game that might come out (gambling or video gaming) and say it will never be useful based on a single context.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/08/10 23:34 UTC
"The 'Llano' processor that AMD described today in an ISSCC session is not a CPU, and it's not a GPU - instead, it's a hybrid design that the chipmaker is calling an 'application processor unit', or APU. Whatever you call it, it could well give Intel a run for its money in the laptop market, by combining a full DX11-compatible GPU with four out-of-order CPU cores on a single, 32nm processor die."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/08/10 19:38 UTC
"The scuttlebutt is that IBM seemed perfectly content to wait until May to launch the Power7-based Power Systems servers, but something changed and compelled the company to move up the announcement of its first machines using the eight-core processor to today. Big Blue is not in a habit of explaining its motives or its timing for product launches, but it seems clear that IBM wanted to get out in front of a whole lot of processor and systems launches that are expected between now and the summer."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/08/10 19:33 UTC
Mozilla has announced that they are going to drop support for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger definitively. "Mac OS X 10.4 was released in April of 2005 and a lot has changed since then," Josh Aas writes, "We would like to take advantage of more modern technologies on Mac OS X and 10.4 support has been a hindrance. Where we can work around supporting 10.4, doing so consumes valuable time and effort. Neither Chrome nor Safari has to deal with this."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/05/10 23:46 UTC
"The ancient bug was discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy in January 2010 and involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run very old programs. Mr Ormandy has found a way to exploit this utility in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well as Windows Vista and Windows 7. The patch for this vulnerability will appear in the February security update. Five of the vulnerabilities being patched at the same time allow attackers to effectively hijack a Windows PC and run their own programs on it."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/05/10 21:50 UTC, submitted by tyrione
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/05/10 21:43 UTC
With all the virtualization schemes running on top of Linux, how do they exploit the underlying kernel for I/O virtualization? The answer is virtio, which provides an efficient abstraction for hypervisors and a common set of I/O virtualization drivers. Discover virtio, and learn why Linux will soon be the hypervisor of choice.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/05/10 21:41 UTC
"The Mono Project releases the first preview of Moonlight 3.0, giving application developers a first look at the open-source implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight 3 technology for the Linux platform." Sadly, it's still Firefox-only.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/04/10 23:13 UTC
"In a definitive defeat for film studios - and in a first case of its kind worldwide - Australia's Federal Court has ruled that ISPs have no obligation to act on copyright infringement notices or to disconnect subscribers after receiving multiple letters. If copyright holders want justice for illegal file-sharing, they need to start by targeting the right people: those who committed the infringement."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/04/10 23:12 UTC
Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, an advocate of Web 2.0, used Twitter early Thursday to announce his resignation. He was named CEO in 2006 as Sun faced a switch in strategic direction away from proprietary systems and toward open source code, including its valued Solaris 10 operating system. "Today's my last day at Sun. I'll miss it", he said in a tweet to his followers, reported the New York Times on its Web site at 1:12 a.m. Thursday. He added a bit of haiku: "Financial crisis, Stalled too many customers, CEO no more."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 02/04/10 17:18 UTC
"The venerable GNU Image Manipulation Program is undergoing a significant transformation. The next major release, version 2.8, will introduce an improved user interface with an optional single-window mode. Although this update is still under heavy development, users can get an early look by compiling the latest source code of the development version from the GIMP's version control repository."
Member since:
2006-01-12
I think this falls on the gimmick side, along with most of the alt 3D UIs I've tried. I don't see anything that adds to my workflow in it, but it appears relatively stable.
The only alt-UI I ever saw with any potential was The Brain. To do any dev work or system maintenance, you still had to duck in and out of it too much for it to be truly immersive, though.
As far as the MS Surface mentions, I think it can be useful for many situations. Not just resizing photos, but useful to enhance a lot of touchscreen workflow scenarios - tablets, ATMs, menu ordering, remote controls, AV controllers, video gaming machines (I live in Vegas, they're everywhere), any kind of kiosk-type device,... Most of these are forced into a sequential flow due to the UI limitation, but this can be opened up with multi-touch. Remember, the desktop isn't the only environment these things are used in.
Unfortunately, Bumptop's is and it doesn't do that well.