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Domain: lineone.net
Stories and comments across the archive that link to lineone.net.
Stories · 8
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Razor Blade Games?
Oxygen99 writes "There's a story on the BBC News website regarding the financial impact on game developers of the next generation of consoles. The article states that while the cost of producing games increases exponentially as new technology comes online, consumer prices stay approximately the same, leading to an unsustainable financial environment for many small developers. With many small development teams already hurting from the crippling costs of development for the X-Box, GameCube and PlayStation 2, what happens when the X-Box2 or Playstation 3 arrives? Are the days of small scale game development over? Will we ever see a new Jeff Minter? Will the games industry go down the route of the razor manufacturers where consoles are almost given away with the games?" -
Off-board/External ATX Power Supplies?
atomicretro asks: "Basically I'm on a quest for a silent PC, so I am looking to take my ATX power supply unit, external. I was simply wondering if anyone else had tried this with any success, or any commercial companies sold them. Silence is required as this PC is being used in my dorm room, and it's hard to sleep next to a whining PC. I've got the sound levels pretty much down to a minimum by adding various silent PC parts, but a separate power supply would be pretty cool. Any help or ideas accepted!" There was a similar question that was posted about two years ago, and it would be interesting to note if anyone in the market was listening. -
Tiny ccTLDs - Who Should You Register With?
mumkin asks: "I have been shopping for a new domain and am considering going with a more obscure ccTLD for my namespace needs. I like the thought of my lan being a virtual extension of a tropical isle or wind-swept steppe, and generally looking weird in people's logs :) Ideally the NIC would lack a full-on whois server, for that extra degree of anonymity. It is important to me that the registry be doing something worthwhile for the country whose TLD it's hawking, and not just ripping them off. Oh, and I want nothing to do with VeriSign, so .TV and .CC are right out (sorry, Tuvalu! sorry, Cocos Islands). So, the question is: what tiny ccTLD registrars allow non-resident registration, are trustworthy, inexpensive, preferably privacy-conscious, and give something truly meaningful back to the countries whose domains they sell? Here's what I have so far -- who else should I be looking at, or what have I got wrong?" Read on for mumkin's ccTLD listing..AS : American Samoa. American Territory. Pop ~68,000. The registry is based in New York City and makes no mention its relationship to American Samoa, or what if any benefits accrue to the people of AS in exchange for the sale of their TLD space. Cost: $45/year. Whois: limited.
.CX : Christmas Island. Home of the dreaded goatse. Part of the Indian Ocean Territories of Australia, pop ~ 3,000. Recently shafted by the bankruptcy of Planet Three, nic.cx is now (according to its website) "a community owned Christmas Island non profit company." $9.60 of every reg. fee goes to the "Christmas Island Information Economy Development Trust," underwriting the cost of internet service on the island. Service which is currently really limited (2 hours/day of dial-up for $25/mo). Cost: $37.40/year. Whois: yes
.HM : The Heard and McDonald Islands. Australian External Territory, Pop: 0. An antarctic island group, mostly covered in glaciers, generally off-limits to visitors. A UN world heritage site. The nic is managed by an Australian guy, and the reg fee pays for the costs of running the registry. All [surname].hm addresses are unavailable, as those have been sold to the mysterious www.my.hm email service. Probably the most morally neutral ccTLD to grab a domain in, since there are no residents to disenfranchise. Cost: $35/year. Whois: none
.PN : Pitcairn Island. British Overseas Territory. Home of 44 descendants of the Bounty mutineers (half of whom are currently under investigation for more recent unsavory acts). Supposedly the sale of domains will help to bring internet access to the island, (they currently have limited, $3.50/min satellite connection, courtesy of a seismic monitoring station on the island. Cost for a domain: auction. Whois: broken
.PS : Palestinian Territories. With only 50 domains registered, the .ps namespace is wide open. It's the only NIC I can think of that's likely to be bombed/raided/otherwise reduced by a military force, since it's located in beautiful Ramallah. Given the US Govt's current mindset, owning a .ps domain could also make you a Person of Interest to any number of three-letter agencies. Cost: $45/year. Whois: limited
.SH : St. Helena Island and .AC : Ascension Island. British Overseas Territories with a population of ~6,000 and ~1,000 respectively. Jamestown, St Helena is the capitol from which the islands of St Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha are governed. The NIC is run out of London and provides free name service and registration for anyone with residency. Ascension is an an incredibly well-networked island for its size. Cost: $100 first year, $50/year thereafter. Whois: yes
.TJ : Tajikistan. Central Asian nation, pop ~6,250,000. NIC is run by two guys in Fresno who also run one of the two Public Registrars for Tajikistan. No information about their relationship to Tajikistan, or what if any benefits the country may receive from their registry fees. Site last updated in '98. Cost: $25/year ($8/year within .com.tj, .web.tj, etc) Whois: yes
.TP : East Timor. Big news a while back, the media seems to have forgotten about them once the shooting stopped. Their TLD is managed by Connect-Ireland as a public service to the Timorese diaspora. There is little documentation on the site, and it's unclear where the $35/year registration fee goes. Xanana Gusmao, former resistance leader and current president, is the Administrative Contact! Note: on May 20th, the ISO 3166 list changed East Timor's alpha-2 designation to TL (Timor Leste). Presumably the IANA will soon change their TLD accordingly. Cost: $35/year. Whois: none" -
Lego Vs. Meccano & Engineering Knowledge
Anonymous In Indy writes "How much of our learning comes from the toys we play with? Nobel prize winner Sir Harry Kroto (Chemistry, 1996) feels that the falling popularity of Meccano and the rise of Lego is inextricably linked to "the demise of British engineering." "Meccano teaches engineering and architectural skills in a way that Lego doesn't. If we had more Meccano, we would have railways that worked. There would be more engineers with better basic understanding." The Sunday Telegraph has the complete story. (USAians note: Meccano = Erector Set." -
The Perils Of E-Voting
ozric99 writes: " Voting in your pajamas is unsafe. So says the latest study published by the Voting Integrity Project, a non-partisan group based in Arlington, Va. that has openly attacked the Arizona Democratic Party's Internet primary election in March." As far as I can tell, this comes down to an authentication issue -- much the problems that certain voting wards have had in the past, e.g. the recently dead mysteriously arising from their graves and voting. -
It's Official: Deckard Was A Replicant
ozric99 sent in a great bit over at BBC news where Ridley Scott reveals that Deckard was a replicant. This is of course the question on the mind of any fan of the classic Blade Runner film. I used to have this discussion with friends years ago. Great film: if you haven't seen it, spank yourself and go rent the directors cut (or get the DVD, it's beautiful). -
NASA Prototype: Could It Make Mars Breathable?
spiralx writes: "Scientists at NASA have successfully tested a solar-powered machine that takes carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and produces pure oxygen. It will be tested for real on the next lander to go to Mars, planned for 2003. The article is here at Line One News." Mars will start seeming a little closer as news like this continues. -
Can humans create life?