Slashdot Mirror

link

What I want to know is...has anyone tried a Linux-based games console before?

Yes, Indrema, and the company went bust.

According to the Mac News Network, independent sources put its latest sales figures of desktop systems at around 3.8% market share.

CNet News.com puts Apple's latest (3rd Quarter 2003) market share figures slightly lower: "Apple, meanwhile, saw shipments rise, but not as fast as the market. The company's U.S. market share is now 3 percent, while its worldwide share is below 3 percent."

While it is true that Apple has taken as much as 7% market share in the laptop market of the US in some months (see this MacLinks article) this only translates to 4% worldwide share. And HP is still the world laptop leader.

Apple, despite what you might think, has not significantly improved its market share over the last few years, except in laptops. You could make the argument that they have managed to keep market share from declining (which was the trend up until 1999), but they have failed to translate their new products into market share leadership.

I know it's hard to believe all of this when you get your news from Slashdot posters, but luckily industry analysts don't.

was the OpenBSD / DARPA funding: article here

Didn't Microsoft give SCO a bucket full of money?

He also said it was unlikely Microsoft would make any major hardware upgrades to the Xbox before the current business cycle ends, as Sony has done with PS2.

Slightly on a Tangent to the Main Topic, but whatever happened to the notion of companies being Agile and Business being a dogfight ? The bottomline is that MS has never been in a hurry. And the point is - do you want to bet money against that paradigm.

Some juicy quotes from Steve Ballmer in April 2003

1. Remember, we brought Windows 1 out in 1983 and we didn't have any real volume until 1991. It took us eight years to get volume. I don't know when we got profit, but it took us eight years to get volume.
2. Take Windows server. We started on it in 1988, but it was probably 1998 before we had real volume, and I don't know when we would have said we had profitability on that product.
3. I feel very good that we have great teams to take MSN and Xbox in exactly those same directions.

"They do their tuning with hardware, we do our tuning with software," he said.

But then they get very pissed when someone does the same to them.

here is intels official site: Intel LCoS

The article in NYtimes made claims that this would produce sub 1000 dollar RPTVs by Christmas 04' I think this is a bit optimistic however it does bode well for us avgeeks.

LCoS is Liquid Crystal on Silicon. The best way to describe it would be a cross between DLP and LCD without the colorwheel and micromirrors of a DLP system.
I would also like to note that this technology has nothing to do with flat panel displays(LCD/Plasma)
More Links
Yahoo Article
CNET Article

His parents mortgaged their home to help defend him. Perhaps this is the reason for the "homeless" label?
Yea, I thought he plea bargained on Monday to a fitting 6 month probation? So did CNN...
http://news.com.com/2100-7348-5135351.html

BTW, this same article is also available over on news.com.com. Anyway, lemme quote:

"The agencies have asked the Federal Communications Commission to order companies offering voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to rewire their networks to guarantee police the ability to eavesdrop on subscribers' conversations."

Think about that one for a minute. How is a VoIP provider going to ensure that? There is only one way, turn off and disable all use of encryption in their VoIP network, unless the provider has access to the keys used.

Now think of IM networks, email servers, or just about any other Internet service. What are they going to do, outlaw all "non-sanctioned" client software using encryption? Are we gearing up for another Clipper Chip fiasco here?

FCC chairman Michael Powell has just come down on the side of VoIP providers saying, in part:

"Rapidly expanding voice communications over the Internet should be protected from excessive government regulation and from being pigeonholed as simple phone service". He goes on to say "harm from misregulation of VoIP could take "decades to fix."

"You [can] create a very hostile regulatory environment for voice-over-IP providers in the United States," Powell said.

He added "there is nothing to stop" the companies from moving to other countries and setting up computer systems to serve U.S. customers.

Exactly. Welcome to the Internet age.

The "hPod" will have a HP logo on it, although the Apple logo still appears at startup.

Check it out here

... is available at CNET At one point, she holds up a prototype of the "HP Digital Music Player".

[Interesting how she starts off on how HP decided to look to Apple instead of build their own, then later says something like "why did Apple come to us?" as a prelude to what HP offers to the partnership. Who came to whom?]

I agree wholeheartedly.

Just yesterday I was talking to a co-worker about the difference between Xbox and Playstation 2.

Yes, the Playstation 2 has tons more games, but I really am not interested in most of them. So the library of games that *I* want is very near equal. If the game box has a picture of someone with very large eyes, and a choppy hair-cut, chances are I don't want to play the game. Nothing to do with xenophobia- everything to do with cultural tastes.

I would much rather play NBA Street than Pokeman. Halo over Final Fantasy, Crimson Skies over (insert some funky Japanese game that I wouldn't understand here).

Somehow the French seem to put out some games I like too- I think it has to do with their Canadian ties. Or the same alphabet as us, or something.

I've tried Japanese games- and maybe I just don't get some of the nuances, or something like that. But I enjoy when my player characters is large, and kills things violently (not a game, but a good idea for one). I don't want to pretend that I am Spritle from Speed Racer.

And I've tried sushi- many times..even pretended to like it for a while- but when it comes down to it, it just isn't my thing.

See here for something likely out of CES about the AMD/Intel efforts to stop buffer overflow code from being executed.

I have a thin v505 that is less than 6 months old, has been treated extremely gently, and is already in need of touchpad replacement/repair (the cursor just skips all over and simply does not accurately track finger movement). This is an annoying and widespread enough problem to warrant those considering purchase of a 505 to perhaps think twice. And if you do, definitely get that extended warranty (but that may just go without saying in laptop purchasing).

from download.com:

The program still suffers from the intrusive installation, file-type hijacking, and upgrade harassment that have plagued it since its inception. Overall, though, RealPlayer has taken steps in the right direction. Users of earlier versions should certainly upgrade.

From Tinfoil hat d00d:

You're right, I apologize. If I were being more open and honest I would have called it "Planting Seed #3".

I have no evidence. In fact I hardly have any circumstantial evidence. But I'm hoping that others, once the seed is planted in the back of their heads, may see something or notice something more substantial.

All I know is that whenever the Bush administration says "security" they really mean "command and control".

Bush unveils final cybersecurity plan.

Selfish Meme you know...

here

Sorry, but Real's music store won't support iPods. Read the article: "For example, both RealNetworks and iTunes will distribute songs encoded in the AAC format, but Apple's iPod will not be able to play Helix-wrapped songs unless Apple licenses that technology."

Like they care. We're not really dealing with SCO, we're dealing with The Canopy Group, which chased the ambulance, bought the wounded body, and threw it into passing traffic in hopes of suing on the body's behalf.

On the other hand, Darl's dedication to making a buck for himself is well-documented.

really .

how long do you think it'll be before some 18 year old locked in a dark closet with some dev tools pulls another drm shattering job . digital degradation from one analog generation is barely noticeable, and jobs has said it a million times, it's not that difficult to record analog from your cd player . people will find a way to defeat technology, the true way is to teach people that theft is wrong .

In addition, HP will start preinstalling Apple's iTunes on its consumer PCs and desktops. HP previously said it planned to enter the digital music player and music store business, though sources familiar with the company's plans said partners would likely be involved.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5137473.html?tag= zdfd.newsfeed

"The number of Americans connecting to the Internet over broadband is growing at a rapid rate , according to a new Nielsen/NetRatings report"

Apple will manufacture the player, which will not have the iPod name but will have the same design and features as Apple's third-generation iPod players, Phil Schiller, senior vice president at Apple, said in an interview. Also, the HP music player will come in "HP Blue," he said.

It will be HP blue. And Apple is producing the iPod, just slapping an HP logo on the case http://news.com.com/2100-7354-5137473.html

The I Shing said: I wonder what color the HP iPod will be.

According to ZDNet's article, the HPod will come in "HP Blue"

From the first paragraphs at zdnet:

Apple will manufacture the player, which will not have the iPod name but will have the same design and features as Apple's third-generation iPod players, Phil Schiller, senior vice president at Apple, said in an interview. Also, the HP music player will come in "HP Blue," he said.

"The way we look at it, HP will be reselling an iPod device," said Schiller, who noted that the device will display the Apple logo at start-up and will work with all of the accessories made for the white-hued Apple varieties.

So it sounds like it'll be blue, but other than that be the normal iPod, running the same OS.

ZD Net quotes Phil Schiller as saying "HP Blue"

If you reduce her salary to $500,000 (ten times what a sacrificing $50K engineer might make), you can save 2290 well paying (50K) jobs.

For the life of me, can you imagine any CEO contributing as much to a company as 2290 rank and file workers? Unless they can literally print money, I have trouble imaging how an executive can make that kind of contribution compared to the employees they lead.

First of all, if you read the article, you will understand that Microsoft has not been advertising these "Word document passwords" as true security mechanisms. Microsoft has been pushing its new DRM Features in Office 2003 as the Microsoft-approved method to secure Office documents.

In fact, I doubt Microsoft really put much effort into making these document-modification passwords all that secure. They have been around for quite some time, and I doubt they have changed much or improved much over the years. I don't know anyone who was relying on these document passwords for their security, and Microsoft did not advertise this as a great feature of Word. In fact, the bug itself is limited in scope to protecting Word FORMS from being modified.

In any case, the new DRM features in Office 2003 are much more sophisticated and will no doubt be much more difficult to crack. THESE are the security features that Microsoft is pushing today, and if you really want to lambast Microsoft Security, then you must point out a way to subvert these newer technologies that Microsoft is actually pushing.

It would be very big news indeed if someone could succeed in copying an Outlook 2003 email marked with a "Do Not Forward" permissions flag. Indeed, if someone could even READ such an email on an unauthorized email client, Microsoft's newest security policies would be questionable. Until then, I'm not convinced this is anything more than FUD trying to convince people that Office is inherently insecure.

Also, make sure the terrorists don't learn to use jello.

See here

For another opinion:

http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=l h

Microsoft's claims courtesy of Sterling Ball, CEO of Ernie Ball Guitar strings.

But Microsoft's influence in this market may not be so profound. Apple has successfully moved from personal computers into a new market where the the line between the computer and home electronics are blurred. Every prior effort Microsoft has made to do this has met with only limited success. Witness WebTV and UltimateTV, both of which have sputtered.

Google management will have 6 months after the IPO to find ways of keeping anybody important to their operation that is about to become rich. There are SEC rules that employees are not allowed to sell their shares for 6 months after the IPO. Here is a very good explanation. It is possible that people who "know too much" may not be allowed to sell their shares for years.

The other side is that while most full-timers at Google have either shares or options, they probably did not amount to much compared to their salary. If those shares become worth ten times their value, and the employee decides to cash out, they will probably gain a few years salary. That might be wrong in this case. With a market cap of $36 billion, even a few shares may be enough to retire. Most companies plan at least 10% of their stock to cover employee options. $3.6 billion / 650 employees gives an average of $5.5 million. On the good side (for us), maybe most of those options are not vested yet.

The big winners are the ones who started the company or invested cash for shares. The investors should not matter to operations, and the founders have already made enough to retire if that was their preference.

---
Here is a link to the story that Google might be forced to IPO that I should have included in my last post. 500 share or option holders and $10 million in assets forces an IPO.

Here is a link to the actual rules. See "Corporate Reporting".

They are being nudged in towards an IPO anyway by security laws. The reason is that they have over 500 shareholders, which means they have to perform $2 million worth of paperwork each year anyway. It's not a overwhelming task, but it is one factor.

Sun plans server with AMD's Opteron instead of Ultra Sparcs

Instead of buying Universal and being able to bundle a few dozen albums [...]

Instead of spending some of the money they had in the bank, Apple turned digital downloads into a game nobody is going to be able to profit at legally.

Instead of spending some of their money? How about all of their money? They only had $4-5 billion in the bank at the time, and Vivendi was asking $6-7 billion for the music division. Assuming Steve was able to talk them down to $3-4 billion, that would leave Apple with little to no money left over in a bad economy.

The scenario you describe would be cool, but do you think Apple could realistically have pulled it off? And even if Apple did seriously pursue this, how long before MS simply bought all of the other labels using their $50 billion war chest and screwed us all?

I'm glad that this bill is unlikely to pass

Did you miss something? The current bill is already opt-out, and was already signed into law two weeks ago.
See here for details.

For $400 bucks Maxtor offers a 300gb portable backup hard drive, and $200 for a 120gb version. The idea of a network file server backup is nice but probably missing the mark with its targeted consumers. I would imagine most lay people would rather just plug something into the USB port of their computers rather than messing around with networking and whatnot.

Maxtor One Touch

"In California, a lawsuit seeking class-action status is expected to be filed in January against the company over the claim that Apple's warranty does not run long enough to cover problems with the player's battery."

"The difficulties stem from the iBook's logic board, or motherboard, users say in discussion forums and on message boards--including boards on Apple's own Web site. Many users report that replacement units have the same problems with display and video output.

Most of the complaints pertain to a particular iBook model with dual USB ports, and many users say the problems started to show up just after the computer came out of warranty. "

How could they have missed the iLoo?

Since the New York Times requires registration for it's current articles I've been news googling titles when I have it and it's always worked for me before. But this tyme the signin, registration, page came up and I tried both returned links (it returned two) to the NYT article. It also returned a link to the article on C!Net's News.com and when I clicked on it the page shows up then a new page came up saying the story expired so I just opened the link again then quickly hit the stop button. After that I was able to read it.

Nah, coding is easy.

What's interesting is if this is just a bargaining chit being used by israel to make MSFT drop thier price, Just like Thailand did!

Use the promotional code "LINUX" and get thousands off your Microsoft installation costs!

Although you're probably right, this is what I interpreted as him having a role in hiring Darl:

We got through the really hard stuff, but at the end of the battle, you're still covered in blood. To move the company forward, it made a lot of sense. It was a mutual agreement: Let's get somebody new in. Darl (McBride) I knew from my work at Novell.

We knew we had salvaged a wonderful channel. We had great technology on the Unix side, wonderful customers and the UnitedLinux thing done. We'd set the stage to do the next step.

It's so ironic, the turn of events. (Caldera began discussing) what we can do through UnitedLinux to indemnify people who had used both Unix and Linux. Apparently, Darl took that in a little different direction than we intended.

He never comes out and says it, but he makes it sound like he was involved in the selection process. I had remembered it a little differently when I originally read that article.

A C|Net article: "The 1.5-inch GB drive, which has been in volume manufacturing since mid-April, sells for $65 in quantities of 10,000."

Cornice.

Currently, their device is only available in one Rio player, and that Rio costs $200. However, you just asked for the storage. I don't necessarily believe the rumors. However, I win your stupid challenge.

As many others have pointed out, enjoy the taste of your words.

"The 1.5 GB drive, which has been in volume manufacturing since mid-April, sells for $65 in quantities of 10,000. The company is aiming for $50, Magenis said. By contrast, existing standard 1-inch Microdrives from IBM sell for $219 at retail or more, while 1GB flash cards go for around $200."

Or, maybe Just a cheaper hard drive.