Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Brilliance, Delay, Simputer
It's all fun and games until you end up in Bankruptcy. Born Game writes: "Loki was supposed to be declared dead today by the bankruptcy trustee. Dennis Powell has followed their story closely, and he has written a wrapup that will break your heart and make you mad."
I hope he's making it longer than Cryptonomicon. We reported that Neal Stephenson's new book Quicksilver was due last month. An anonymous reader pointed to this page at Amazon UK, writing "the book is due out March 6th next year, not this year. Meh."
Maybe calling it Brilliant wasn't such a bright idea. asv108 writes: "According to this article from MP3 Newswire, Cnet's Download.com has removed KaZaA media desktop due to concerns over Brilliant Digital Entertainment's hidden software."
It's still available elsewhere though; if you or someone you love wants to use such software regardless, TDScott writes: "In case anyone is having trouble convincing their friends that there's a problem with the b3d spyware installed with KaZaA, I've put together a quick summary page on what the problem is and how to remove it (use AdAware with caution) - pointing people to it might save you hours of explanation."
I hope these are available stateside, too. Pankaj writes "Simputer is All set to hit the market in India. The Open Source Computer (Both Hardware/Software) Has found its first makers in Encore Solutions who will start selling it within the next one month. {sources internal}. This will give the iPaq and Palms a run for their money, as the simputer is loaded with features like internal modem, smartcard reader and usb port. There are plans to add a gsm phone into it too -- watch out, Nokia! And one third the price; it's supposed to be 10,000 Indian Rupees. Thats around $210 try comparing it to the ipaq.
Did you ask what it is based on? It's Linux 2.4, man, with gtk and its developer kit it's as free as the hardware itself. This looks like hot stuff to go for.
Does anyone know who (if anyone) is going to maintain OpenAL? This is a promising spatial audio api, and I would hate to see it go by the wayside. Already I see dead links on their site (e.g. CVS server), and have to find backup FTP servers to get access.
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
That sounds like how I write. I am miserable in a word processor. It's too easy to get sidetracked. When I write longhand, I have to organize my ideas. Also, I really like the aesthetic of pages and pages of my handwriting spread out in front of me. To each his own, eh?
There should be a moratorium on the use of the apostrophe.
Max V.
NeXTMail/MIME Mail welcome
doubt it.
Porting is much more cost effective.
Loki had almost no expenses for content creation. They didn't have to write game engines, they didn't need original music, images, models, skins, etc.
They were a small group of very talented programmers. Not game designers or artists.
I think it would have been in loki's interest to just be consultants working with existing game companies to help them write linux/mac/beos etc binaries or just platform independant code with SDL and stuff like that.
They probably still wouldn't have made tons of money, but their overhead would have been much lower, and they'd might still be in business.
Who knows? just my 2 cents.
Anyone running a startup, especially a startup with slim chances (and that doesn't take 20/20 hindsight to say) is going to be operating in a reality distortion field, it is practically a requirement of the job. Such fields are good when you need to motivate people to do the otherwise impossible, but they can easily get out of hand, and often do. So, it really is no surprise that the guy continues to live in his own surreal world.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
that is the best way to design, IMOHO. I always write out code/design before doing anything on a actual computer. Then again, I rarely write prose ;)
Adam
Ok, a failed lawyer, starting a Linux game company. Sounds suspiciously like an opportunist with no relevant experience and dollar signs in his eyes. Did he at least have some technical background? Experience in the (brutal) gaming industry? Familiarity with Linux? You'd think the article would have mentioned it (working at Apple does not imply a technical background).
If anyone ever gives you this vibe, get out, quick. The best of plans, in the best of circumstances, executed by the best of people is a long way from a sure thing in the free market. Optimism and confidence are good, but counting on success--even just in your heart--before it's in the bank is always a mistake. This lesson, it seems, will be learned over and over until the end of time.
You're only supposed to get unemployment benefits if you're looking for work. So Draker was dishonest from the start.
My company was financed in 1999, so I recall distinctly that the boom was in full swing the whole year. (Hint: when did VA Linux IPO?) If they couldn't find funding in 1999, something was very wrong.
I'm going to stop, because the later signs are too obvious, and because if the signs were all there at the height of the bubble--well that's just pathetic.
Reading this, I couldn't help being reminded of the movie startup.com. Somehow, you were supposed to feel sorry for these losers, even though they aspired to nothing more noble than easy riches, and pursued them with laughably poor judgement. I can't fairly blame them for dipping into the overflowing VC pool, but I certainly didn't cry for their failure.
Maybe my standards for entrepreneurs are too high. Maybe it's because I've been with a tech start-up that I was and am proud of (founded in 1998, and still going, thank you).
The evaluation of an action as 'practical' . . . depends on what it is that one wishes to practice.
When I had orignally read that article about the Brilliant Digital (BDE) Trojan being silently distributed in Kazaa, I laughed and became glad that I had never installed Kazaa.
e xe , 4d ata 2.dll,44m 32\bdedown loader.dll,44s ystem32\bdefdi. dll,442 \bdeinst a2.dll,44b 3d,,i ,,
D eleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,b3dini_auto_f ile,,a yer.bde playerctrl,,2 ,bdeplayer.bde playerctrl.1,,T ,2,bdesmartinsta ller.bdesmartinstaller,,L ASSES_ROOT,2,bdesmartinsta ller.bdesmartinstaller.1,,_ CLASSES_ROOT,2,clsid\{519581 69-d5e3-11d1-aa42-0000e842e40a},,, 1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,clsid\{679251 65-c4b6-11d2-b9c6-0000e84f59a6},,, 1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,interface\{67 925164-c4b6-11d2-b9c6-0000e84f59a6},,t her,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,s3d_auto_file , b ri lliant digital entertainment,,O T,2,typelib\{82fc 7881-aacc-11d2-b9c6-0000e842e40a},,
But what's this? There's a new Ad-Aware? I download it and run it. It finds 19 new components. Guess what, the BDE Trojan is installed on my machine. How? I have no idea. I never downloaded installed Kazaa and nobody else uses this machine. And I almost never browse with IE so ActiveX couldn't have let it in.
The only conclusion I can come to is that BDE software is being distributed with applications besides Kazaa. The only newly downloaded (Windows) software I have installed recently are Ad-aware and WinAMP and honestly I think they are unlikely suspects. The date on the BDE files was JAN 12 2002!!! That was 3 months before the original slashdot article!
How did the Brilliant Digital Trojan get onto my computer?
Log:
Started file scan
Other file:D:\WINNT\bde\bdeclean.exe
FileSize : 32 kb
FileCreation time : 12/01/2002 17:08:06
Last accessed : 09/04/2002 22:32:07
Build : 3.0.7.0
OS : Win32 executable
Description:BDEClean
Version:3, 0, 7, 0
ProductName:Brilliant Digital uninstaller
Other file:D:\WINNT\system32\bdedata2.dll
FileSize : 36 kb
FileCreation time : 12/01/2002 17:03:51
Last accessed : 09/04/2002 22:32:09
Build : 1.0.1.9
OS : No executable
Description:BDEData (Release)
Version:1, 0, 1, 9
ProductName:BDEData Module
Other file:D:\WINNT\system32\bdedownloader.dll
FileSize : 88 kb
FileCreation time : 12/01/2002 17:03:51
Last accessed : 09/04/2002 22:32:09
Build : 3.0.38.0
OS : No executable
Description:BDEDownloader
Version:3, 0, 38, 0
ProductName:Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc. BDEDownloader
Other file:D:\WINNT\system32\bdefdi.dll
FileSize : 40 kb
FileCreation time : 12/01/2002 17:03:51
Last accessed : 09/04/2002 22:32:09
Build : 1.0.0.7
OS : No executable
Description:BDEFdiTest
Version:1, 0, 0, 7
ProductName:Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc. BDEFdiTest
Other file:D:\WINNT\system32\bdeinsta2.dll
FileSize : 97 kb
FileCreation time : 12/01/2002 17:03:51
Last accessed : 09/04/2002 22:32:09
Build : 1.2.3.9
OS : No executable
Description:BDESmartInstaller (Release)
Version:1, 2, 3, 9
ProductName:BDEInstallerComponent Module
Removing selected components:
Deleting:Other,3,file,2,,D:\WINNT\bde\bdeclean.
Deleting:Other,3,file,2,,D:\WINNT\system32\bde
Deleting:Other,3,file,2,,D:\WINNT\syste
Deleting:Other,3,file,2,,D:\WINNT\
Deleting:Other,3,file,2,,D:\WINNT\system3
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,.
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,.b3din
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,.s3d,,
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,2,bdepl
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_ROO
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_C
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY
Deleting:Other
Deleting:Other
Deleting:O
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,2,software\
Deleting:Other,1,HKEY_CLASSES_RO