What is this language called Java?
Article Abstract:
Java has attracted a number of advocates, but the computer programming language does not meet many of its claims. The Sun Microsystems-designed technology distinguishes itself as a platform for programmers to build their code. Programs written in Java can operate on numerous machines, which represents a potential threat to Windows and other OSes. Java presently is not an OS, and it lacks the ability to handle traditional system functions like sending characters to a screen, documents to a printer or files to a hard drive. An earlier universal OS, the p-system, failed because nearly all of its developed programs ran slower than those targeted for a specific machine. Universal compatibility has resurfaced thanks to other technological developments such as the rise of the Internet. A Javasoft Web site headline claims to 'work everywhere,' but a current PC Magazine test reported that 12 programs certified as '100% Java' ran properly only 64% of the time.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1998
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Scooby Doo, where are you?: at 43rd and Broadway, not on Mount Everest, but a G.P.S. receiver might not tell you that
Article Abstract:
Global Positioning System (GPS)-based products are increasingly becoming a part of life as the technology expands from military to civilian use. The technology's diverse uses already include auto navigation systems, landing airplanes, athletics and precision planting and fertilizing. Future uses will range from monitoring Alzheimer's patients whereabouts to more efficient auto service. Favorite US recreational uses of GPS technology are for boating and hiking, although a security feature limits accuracy for most average non-military users to around 100 meters, or 328 feet. Users are encouraged to consider GPS receivers as a supplemental means of navigation, according to boating equipment supplier West Marine. Basic GPS receiver costs have plummeted from $2,000 in 1992 to $249 today for a lightweight model of similar quality. GPS may surge from its current market value of around $2 billion to $8.5 billion by 2005, according to industry trade groups.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1998
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Where exactly are we? Navigation that is hardly celestial
Article Abstract:
Magellan Driver Information Systems' Neverlost navigation system for rental cars does a fairly good job of tracking where the vehicle is. The system is available in Hertz rental cars for an additional $8 a day. Neverlost's database provides both not enough information and too much. The system can presents three different route options, but lacks a way to instruct it to route around known high-traffic areas. Neverlost uses three systems to determine where the car is located. One is to use a database stored in the trunk on a hard drive. Another is using the on-board gyroscope and odometer as a data reckoning device. The Neverlost system also receives a reading from Global Positioning System satellites. The three technologies can occasionally become confused however.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1997
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