I knew it wouldn't take long before someone thought up the bright idea (pun not intended) of putting the remains of Mir up on eBay.:-)
It'll be interesting to see how many verifiable pieces of Mir remains are posted on various eBay auctions. Some pieces could go for thousands of dollars.
While it's true that Game Boy now has the handheld market pretty much to itself, I think the Game Boy franchise was actually starting to go rapidly downhill until this thing called Pokémon (or Pocket Monsters as it is called in Japan) single-handedly revived Game Boy sales, so much so that the revenue from the Pokémon franchise most likely paid for the development of the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube.
Actually, Nintendo started as a playing card company many years ago. They didn't start dabbling in videogames until the 1970's, which resulted in the original Famicom system unveiled in the middle 1980's.
Decoding it is one thing, but encoding MPEG-4 files is quite something else. You probably not only need a really fast CPU, but also a dedicated encoder video board to pull it off.
I do agree that for now, decoding MPEG-4 files are still fairly expensive, but you are forgetting that modern ASIC chip design can very likely get the entire decoding circuitry for MPEG-4 files into a single ASIC chip pretty soon.
Given that MPEG-4 files will probably require at most a 24X speed standard CD-ROM drive, that means a player could be built at very low cost--US$80 or less. Right now if you want a decent DVD player they start at around US$160 and go way up from there to over US$1,000 for the best models.
I'll ask you this: how much does it cost to master a DVD video disc? It's still pretty expensive, especially for those who have to add in all the extra features out the wazoo.
Because MPEG-4 discs are going to be like regular VHS tapes, they will lack the extra features of DVD discs, which means mastering costs are going to be way lower. That means the studio can sell it at US$10-$15 per disc and still make a very tidy profit from it.
The most expensive part about producing a stand-alone player that can decode an MPEG-4 encoded disc is the decoding circuitry itself.
However, given the dirt-cheap costs of creating quite complex ASIC custom chips nowadays, once production starts a single chip that can decode MPEG-4 in real time should be pretty reasonable to start with. And because MPEG-4 discs doesn't require the tolerances of DVD drives (it can use standard CD-ROM drives), the total cost of a player could be way, way below that of a DVD console player.
Indeed, I can foresee players for these new MPEG-4 encoded discs going for as little as US$80 because you can use current CD transports.
One thing though, I think the MPAA may ask that the resolution of these discs be limited to around 330 lines of resolution, unlike the 500+ lines of resolution of DVD discs. However, given the limits of most TV monitors nowadays, that still will be far superior to standard VHS tapes.
I in a way am not surprised that the MPAA has not tried to squash the MPEG-4 format.
The reason is simple: with the addition of some form of digital rights management, MPEG-4 will allow the movie companies to distribute movies extremely cheaply. It may not have all the fancy menus and extra features of DVD, but an MPEG-4 formatted movie disc does not require the far more expensive mastering equipment used on mastering DVD's--it can be mastered using current audio CD mastering equipment. This could allow for very cheap duplication of movies, since packaging costs for a CD nowadays is likely going to be less than that of a VHS tape, and with proper handling they'll last a long time, too.
Essentially we'll end up with DVD's for the high-end market and MPEG-4 encoded discs for the low cost market. We'll have a case where DVD's sell for around US$25-$30 and MPEG-4 encoded discs go for US$10-$15.
1. Microsoft is willing to spend a lot of money promoting the system in Japan.
2. Microsoft has gotten just about every major Japanese game publisher (with the notable exception of Square) to write games for Xbox.
3. Even the Japanese are not so interested with arcade units anymore. Look at how fast the PlayStation 2 has sold in Japan, and you know that GameCube will be flying out the door of retailers in Japan this summer, too.
You are correct in your assessments about the decline of arcade games.
I mean, think about it: the current PlayStation 2 and the upcoming GameCube and Xbox consoles now have computing power that just about equals what dedicated arcade machines can do. And all three consoles will likely have the ability to connect multiple players over broadband Internet connections.
It's small wonder why Capcom wants to concentrate on console systems.
Actually, what the Zeppelin company used was a combination of aluminum powder and nitrocellulose as a doping compound for the canvas covering of the Hindenburg, which was supposed to reflect heat.
Unfortunately, the Zeppelin people didn't know the doping compound was extremely explosive. It was research by a NASA scientist who managed to get a sample of the outer skin covering from the Hindenburg and looked at its chemical composition that he noted it had almost exactly the same properties as the solid rocket fuel used on the Space Shuttle SRB's. He came to the conclusion the ignition of one of the canvas covers possibly set off the hydrogen gas.
In fact, a secret Zeppelin internal report done in 1938 also noted the penchant of the doping compound to burn extremely rapidly, but that report was squelched by the Nazi authorities for propaganda reasons.
I think what Cmdr. Taco is finding out very rapidly is that the Church of Scientology is even more protective of their works than Coca-Cola and Disney, both companies notorious for zealous protection of their copyrights.
The last thing Andover.net wants is being dragged into a ugly, expensive lawsuit that will result in Slashdot being shut down for good because Andover can't pay the legal bills fighting the lawsuit.
I think people should also know that Adolf Hitler's views were very pagan in its outlook. Why was it that the Nazis wanted to elevate the old Norse pantheon of gods again? Or why they celebrated the works of Richard Wagner, a virulent anti-Semite himself?
Equating Naziism with Christianity is a major fallacy, IMHO. And it's small wonder why there's an unwritten rule anytime Naziism is brought up in a Usenet discussion the discussion more or less comes to a screeching halt.:-/
I don't think NCR will sue Microsoft. After all, Microsoft has several cross-licensing deals with NCR, and that may include Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's). That's how come MS could develop Windows CE for PDA's without being sued by NCR.
Also, NCR will not sue Apple, either. Given Apple's views in regards to patent and copyright laws, I'm sure Apple may be gotten a license on the NCR patent before developing the Newton PDA in the early 1990's.
Actually, the price of RAM in general has taken a major nosedive lately.
I can now get 128 MB DDR-SDRAM DIMM's for under US$80! =:-0 And it appears that the RDRAM makers have a clue, too: 128 MB PC-800 RIMM's now sell for under US$150. (Thud)
Maybe the competition from DDR-SDRAM has finally forced the price of RIMM's down for a change.:-)
When will Linux run Shuttle & ISS main computers
on
Tux in Space
·
· Score: 2
While NASA using Linux is very good, when will they trust it enough to use it as the primary OS for the main computers operating the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station? After all, extreme reliability of the software is very important for such applications, and I'm not sure if Linux with its current 2.4.x kernel has passed NASA's extreme requirements for such applications.
If I could moderate this message thread I'll mod your message up at least two levels.:)
Your assessments are completely correct in regards to Linux. I think Caldera OpenLinux 2.4 and Mandrake 7.2 make excellent Linux distributions for first-time Linux users.
The professional distributions should be between Red Hat, Turbolinux and S.u.S.E. for corporate use.
And the Debian Linux should be the base reference for Linux distributions.
If I remember from a comment on a older Slashdot article, the Linux given to any interested UCLA student for some time was essentially Red Hat Linux 5.0 with a pre-canned configuration so the user can quickly log onto the UCLA computer network.
Mind you, Mandrake Linux is in many ways derived from Red Hat Linux.:)
I think for neophyte Linux users they should be using either Mandrake 7.2 or Caldera OpenLinux 2.4.
You have to remember that in larger companies or organizations, it's good to try to standardize on system configurations as much as possible. That makes it much easier to do company-wide systems management and upgrades.
What I find interesting is that many so-called roll your own distributions are actually modified versions of commercial Linux distributions, customized for the local organization's needs. A good example of this is the Linux used at UCLA, which is essentially Red Hat Linux modified to take advantage of the network infrastructure at UCLA.
I think a lot of people are going to dismiss Game Boy Advance.
I think that will be a huge mistake, though. People forget that Nintendo's own software designers are extremely top-notch, and you do have to remember the Game Boy Advance has way more computing power than the the original Nintendo system of the 1980's. In addition, GBA can play current Game Boy games, and can function as a controller for Nintendo's upcoming Gamecube system. In Japan, GBA can also play games over the NTT DoCoMo cellular phone system.
If Nintendo prices it right, they will sell a LOT of Game Boy Advance units here in the USA.
I think people forget that because Xbox does include the capability to play DVD movies (even though it is an extra-cost option), the DVD standard does require a parental lockout capability by default. What MS wants to do is extend that lockout capability to the games themselves. You know, I'm surprised that Sony didn't do this with PlayStation 2.
I think the only way Apple is going to prevent being read the riot act when MacOS X is released is to offer a free MacOS X 1.1 Upgrade on CD-ROM to anyone who sends in their registration cards for the OS.
That way, when MacOS 1.1 (code-named Puma) becomes available in July 2001 end users will be sent a full update disc without having to jam Apple's servers trying to download the upgrade.
It's all these complaints about lousy cable service that is driving people to buy satellite dishes on a large scale.
No wonder DirecTV and Dish Network receiver sales are going strong lately; for the price of basic cable per month in most of the USA you get frequently two to three times the basic channels available with a DBS system compared to most cable providers.
DBS systems have far more pay-per-view movies and sporting events than any cable system, too. And you can get multichannel versions of HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel and Cinemax that even digital cable systems mostly don't offer.
I think the problem that hurt the X-33 program was the fact the centerpiece of that program--the composite material fuel tank--failed several times in testing. It was going to be too expensive to redesign the X-33 to incorporate a metal fuel tank, anyway.
I think the new Bush Administration may take a new look at the McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) Delta Clipper design, given that cheap space access is necessary to implement missile defense.
By the way, the Space Shuttle is still a ways from being obselete. NASA has studied the idea of replacing the current solid rocket boosters with either a longer booster (so it can carry more solid rocket fuel for a longer burn) or completely replacing the SRB's with two winged booster stages fuelled by a combination of liquid oxygen and kerosene. I think the winged booster stages could become reality, since that will allow the Space Shuttle to fly high-inclination orbits or carry payloads well above the current 50,000 lb. limit.
With the price of AMD Duron CPU's under US$100 even for the 750 MHz versions, trying to make it go even faster is a silly idea unless you're willing to spend the extra money for a decent 300W power supply, a top-quality heatsink/fan, and extra cooling fans inside the system case.
I'd rather spend the money on getting at least 128 MB of system RAM and a decent 7200 RPM ATA-66/100 hard drive, where the benefits are more immediate (and cheap given the recent prices for 168-pin DIMM's and hard drives). A lot of people forget that with enough RAM you swap far less to the hard drive virtual memory, and with a fast hard drive data can be read off the hard drive a lot faster than the older 5400 RPM drives.
Slashdot Mirror
I knew it wouldn't take long before someone thought up the bright idea (pun not intended) of putting the remains of Mir up on eBay. :-)
It'll be interesting to see how many verifiable pieces of Mir remains are posted on various eBay auctions. Some pieces could go for thousands of dollars.
While it's true that Game Boy now has the handheld market pretty much to itself, I think the Game Boy franchise was actually starting to go rapidly downhill until this thing called Pokémon (or Pocket Monsters as it is called in Japan) single-handedly revived Game Boy sales, so much so that the revenue from the Pokémon franchise most likely paid for the development of the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube.
Actually, Nintendo started as a playing card company many years ago. They didn't start dabbling in videogames until the 1970's, which resulted in the original Famicom system unveiled in the middle 1980's.
Decoding it is one thing, but encoding MPEG-4 files is quite something else. You probably not only need a really fast CPU, but also a dedicated encoder video board to pull it off.
zhensel,
I do agree that for now, decoding MPEG-4 files are still fairly expensive, but you are forgetting that modern ASIC chip design can very likely get the entire decoding circuitry for MPEG-4 files into a single ASIC chip pretty soon.
Given that MPEG-4 files will probably require at most a 24X speed standard CD-ROM drive, that means a player could be built at very low cost--US$80 or less. Right now if you want a decent DVD player they start at around US$160 and go way up from there to over US$1,000 for the best models.
I'll ask you this: how much does it cost to master a DVD video disc? It's still pretty expensive, especially for those who have to add in all the extra features out the wazoo.
Because MPEG-4 discs are going to be like regular VHS tapes, they will lack the extra features of DVD discs, which means mastering costs are going to be way lower. That means the studio can sell it at US$10-$15 per disc and still make a very tidy profit from it.
The most expensive part about producing a stand-alone player that can decode an MPEG-4 encoded disc is the decoding circuitry itself.
However, given the dirt-cheap costs of creating quite complex ASIC custom chips nowadays, once production starts a single chip that can decode MPEG-4 in real time should be pretty reasonable to start with. And because MPEG-4 discs doesn't require the tolerances of DVD drives (it can use standard CD-ROM drives), the total cost of a player could be way, way below that of a DVD console player.
Indeed, I can foresee players for these new MPEG-4 encoded discs going for as little as US$80 because you can use current CD transports.
One thing though, I think the MPAA may ask that the resolution of these discs be limited to around 330 lines of resolution, unlike the 500+ lines of resolution of DVD discs. However, given the limits of most TV monitors nowadays, that still will be far superior to standard VHS tapes.
I in a way am not surprised that the MPAA has not tried to squash the MPEG-4 format.
The reason is simple: with the addition of some form of digital rights management, MPEG-4 will allow the movie companies to distribute movies extremely cheaply. It may not have all the fancy menus and extra features of DVD, but an MPEG-4 formatted movie disc does not require the far more expensive mastering equipment used on mastering DVD's--it can be mastered using current audio CD mastering equipment. This could allow for very cheap duplication of movies, since packaging costs for a CD nowadays is likely going to be less than that of a VHS tape, and with proper handling they'll last a long time, too.
Essentially we'll end up with DVD's for the high-end market and MPEG-4 encoded discs for the low cost market. We'll have a case where DVD's sell for around US$25-$30 and MPEG-4 encoded discs go for US$10-$15.
Xbox will not be a bust in Japan.
The reason why it won't fail are:
1. Microsoft is willing to spend a lot of money promoting the system in Japan.
2. Microsoft has gotten just about every major Japanese game publisher (with the notable exception of Square) to write games for Xbox.
3. Even the Japanese are not so interested with arcade units anymore. Look at how fast the PlayStation 2 has sold in Japan, and you know that GameCube will be flying out the door of retailers in Japan this summer, too.
You are correct in your assessments about the decline of arcade games.
I mean, think about it: the current PlayStation 2 and the upcoming GameCube and Xbox consoles now have computing power that just about equals what dedicated arcade machines can do. And all three consoles will likely have the ability to connect multiple players over broadband Internet connections.
It's small wonder why Capcom wants to concentrate on console systems.
Actually, what the Zeppelin company used was a combination of aluminum powder and nitrocellulose as a doping compound for the canvas covering of the Hindenburg, which was supposed to reflect heat.
Unfortunately, the Zeppelin people didn't know the doping compound was extremely explosive. It was research by a NASA scientist who managed to get a sample of the outer skin covering from the Hindenburg and looked at its chemical composition that he noted it had almost exactly the same properties as the solid rocket fuel used on the Space Shuttle SRB's. He came to the conclusion the ignition of one of the canvas covers possibly set off the hydrogen gas.
In fact, a secret Zeppelin internal report done in 1938 also noted the penchant of the doping compound to burn extremely rapidly, but that report was squelched by the Nazi authorities for propaganda reasons.
Aggrazel,
I think what Cmdr. Taco is finding out very rapidly is that the Church of Scientology is even more protective of their works than Coca-Cola and Disney, both companies notorious for zealous protection of their copyrights.
The last thing Andover.net wants is being dragged into a ugly, expensive lawsuit that will result in Slashdot being shut down for good because Andover can't pay the legal bills fighting the lawsuit.
I think people should also know that Adolf Hitler's views were very pagan in its outlook. Why was it that the Nazis wanted to elevate the old Norse pantheon of gods again? Or why they celebrated the works of Richard Wagner, a virulent anti-Semite himself?
:-/
Equating Naziism with Christianity is a major fallacy, IMHO. And it's small wonder why there's an unwritten rule anytime Naziism is brought up in a Usenet discussion the discussion more or less comes to a screeching halt.
I don't think NCR will sue Microsoft. After all, Microsoft has several cross-licensing deals with NCR, and that may include Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's). That's how come MS could develop Windows CE for PDA's without being sued by NCR.
Also, NCR will not sue Apple, either. Given Apple's views in regards to patent and copyright laws, I'm sure Apple may be gotten a license on the NCR patent before developing the Newton PDA in the early 1990's.
Actually, the price of RAM in general has taken a major nosedive lately.
:-)
I can now get 128 MB DDR-SDRAM DIMM's for under US$80! =:-0 And it appears that the RDRAM makers have a clue, too: 128 MB PC-800 RIMM's now sell for under US$150. (Thud)
Maybe the competition from DDR-SDRAM has finally forced the price of RIMM's down for a change.
While NASA using Linux is very good, when will they trust it enough to use it as the primary OS for the main computers operating the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station? After all, extreme reliability of the software is very important for such applications, and I'm not sure if Linux with its current 2.4.x kernel has passed NASA's extreme requirements for such applications.
SnapShot,
:)
If I could moderate this message thread I'll mod your message up at least two levels.
Your assessments are completely correct in regards to Linux. I think Caldera OpenLinux 2.4 and Mandrake 7.2 make excellent Linux distributions for first-time Linux users.
The professional distributions should be between Red Hat, Turbolinux and S.u.S.E. for corporate use.
And the Debian Linux should be the base reference for Linux distributions.
If I remember from a comment on a older Slashdot article, the Linux given to any interested UCLA student for some time was essentially Red Hat Linux 5.0 with a pre-canned configuration so the user can quickly log onto the UCLA computer network.
:)
Mind you, Mandrake Linux is in many ways derived from Red Hat Linux.
I think for neophyte Linux users they should be using either Mandrake 7.2 or Caldera OpenLinux 2.4.
Your views are correct! :-)
You have to remember that in larger companies or organizations, it's good to try to standardize on system configurations as much as possible. That makes it much easier to do company-wide systems management and upgrades.
What I find interesting is that many so-called roll your own distributions are actually modified versions of commercial Linux distributions, customized for the local organization's needs. A good example of this is the Linux used at UCLA, which is essentially Red Hat Linux modified to take advantage of the network infrastructure at UCLA.
I think a lot of people are going to dismiss Game Boy Advance.
I think that will be a huge mistake, though. People forget that Nintendo's own software designers are extremely top-notch, and you do have to remember the Game Boy Advance has way more computing power than the the original Nintendo system of the 1980's. In addition, GBA can play current Game Boy games, and can function as a controller for Nintendo's upcoming Gamecube system. In Japan, GBA can also play games over the NTT DoCoMo cellular phone system.
If Nintendo prices it right, they will sell a LOT of Game Boy Advance units here in the USA.
That is correct! :-)
I think people forget that because Xbox does include the capability to play DVD movies (even though it is an extra-cost option), the DVD standard does require a parental lockout capability by default. What MS wants to do is extend that lockout capability to the games themselves. You know, I'm surprised that Sony didn't do this with PlayStation 2.
I think the only way Apple is going to prevent being read the riot act when MacOS X is released is to offer a free MacOS X 1.1 Upgrade on CD-ROM to anyone who sends in their registration cards for the OS.
That way, when MacOS 1.1 (code-named Puma) becomes available in July 2001 end users will be sent a full update disc without having to jam Apple's servers trying to download the upgrade.
Folks,
It's all these complaints about lousy cable service that is driving people to buy satellite dishes on a large scale.
No wonder DirecTV and Dish Network receiver sales are going strong lately; for the price of basic cable per month in most of the USA you get frequently two to three times the basic channels available with a DBS system compared to most cable providers.
DBS systems have far more pay-per-view movies and sporting events than any cable system, too. And you can get multichannel versions of HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel and Cinemax that even digital cable systems mostly don't offer.
I think the problem that hurt the X-33 program was the fact the centerpiece of that program--the composite material fuel tank--failed several times in testing. It was going to be too expensive to redesign the X-33 to incorporate a metal fuel tank, anyway.
I think the new Bush Administration may take a new look at the McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) Delta Clipper design, given that cheap space access is necessary to implement missile defense.
By the way, the Space Shuttle is still a ways from being obselete. NASA has studied the idea of replacing the current solid rocket boosters with either a longer booster (so it can carry more solid rocket fuel for a longer burn) or completely replacing the SRB's with two winged booster stages fuelled by a combination of liquid oxygen and kerosene. I think the winged booster stages could become reality, since that will allow the Space Shuttle to fly high-inclination orbits or carry payloads well above the current 50,000 lb. limit.
You are 100% correct! :-)
With the price of AMD Duron CPU's under US$100 even for the 750 MHz versions, trying to make it go even faster is a silly idea unless you're willing to spend the extra money for a decent 300W power supply, a top-quality heatsink/fan, and extra cooling fans inside the system case.
I'd rather spend the money on getting at least 128 MB of system RAM and a decent 7200 RPM ATA-66/100 hard drive, where the benefits are more immediate (and cheap given the recent prices for 168-pin DIMM's and hard drives). A lot of people forget that with enough RAM you swap far less to the hard drive virtual memory, and with a fast hard drive data can be read off the hard drive a lot faster than the older 5400 RPM drives.