KOSH [Kommunity Orientated Software Hardware]

Weekly Summary

Week Commencing: 10th April 1999

Number: 016

Mailing List: kosh-general

In the mailing list this week, the following items were discussed. Please do
not email the scribe regarding any of these topics, it is not his job to answer
these questions but merely to report  the topics of conversation. If you have
any queries about this summary, please email ben@kosh.net, stating the Summary
Number, and Mailing List Name, and he will try to answer your queries.

a)

Subject: Keyboards (continued)

Summary of debate: Suggested that a keyboard could have an LCD on each key
                   which could be programmable by the computer. Keymaps for
                   individual games and serious applications could then be
                   made. If the LCDs were like the Mac screens that appeared a
                   few years ago and only required power when the display on
                   one of the LCDs was altered then the power consumption
                   would be low. Presumably such a keyboard would initially
                   cost a lot.


b)

Subject: General "serial controlled device" class

Summary of debate: Suggested that the above could be used to control (for
                   example) the LEGO computer chip that recently appeared on
                   the market.

                   Another suggested use for something along these lines is a
                   landmine clearance robot - something that could greatly
                   reduce the risk to clearance personnel. This was described
                   in detail and noted that the cost of the system must be low
                   enough that people in developing countries can afford to
                   build and use their own units.


c)

Subject: Eye movement recognition systems

Summary of debate: It was asked how likely an eye recognition system for a home
                   computer will be in the near future at an affordable price.
                   Such a system could be used (for example) to control a
                   pointer on screen instead of a mouse.

                   A separate computer could power the pointing device. It
                   would be a sub-$1 microcontroller. The actual devices to
                   measure the position of the eye (what it is looking at and
                   what it is doing, eg: blinking) should come in at under $5.

                   It was pointed out that the entire device could be built
                   into glasses, however not everyone wears and/or would want to
                   wear glasses while using a computer.


d)

Subject: Crashes and recovery

Summary of debate: Some discussion was held on Windows and scandisk that
                   activates if a crash results. It was pointed out that even
                   though KOSH will be much more stable we should still have
                   repair utilities -just-in-case-.

                   However, these should be more intuitive that things like
                   scandisk and should, for instance, give the option to view
                   the result of a change before that change takes place.


e)

Subject: Web site expression list

Summary of debate: It was suggested that a database on a web page (presumably
                   somewhere at http://www.kosh.net) be setup that allows
                   people to add a word and an explanation to a list just by
                   mailing them to a particular location or by filling in a
                   form on the web site.

                   It was noted that there would have to be protection against
                   certain words and phrases to prevent abuse of this. Perhaps
                   a human would have to check all submissions before they
                   could be included.


f)

Subject: kosh-terminology-o Mailing List

Summary of debate: The above ML has been created by Jason Radford.
                   Email majordomo@kosh.net with the words "subscribe
                   kosh-terminology-o" in the body to subscribe.


g)

Subject: [KOSH] email prefix

Summary of debate: The prefix [KOSH] has been added to each message for easier
                   management of messages by those using shell accounts or
                   message filters.


h)

Subject: Daylight Saving Time

Summary of debate: It was noted that the 23 hour day in April and the 25 hour
                   day in the fall need to be represented in KOSH.

                   It was further noted that not everything goes on DST and
                   that most graphic systems aren't designed to handle a
                   missing or duplicated unit on a coordinate axis.