Any monitor can display any color depth. The IBM 8514 would be perfectly happy running 1024x768 interlaced at 24-bit color as opposed to the 256 colors it was designed for. So the $30 graphics card could display true color on the oldest VGA monitor in existence. Resolution, however, is dependent on the monitor. But it is possible to design web pages that look good at multiple resolutions. WIDTH=pixels is your enemy. WIDTH=percent is your friend.
Basilisk is another alternative. It emulates a Mac II, allowing you to run Mac OS up to version 8.1. It supports floppies, CD-ROM drives, Ethernet (but not LocalTalk), hard drive images, and direct access of SCSI devices (plug in a Mac scsi hard drive and you can boot the emulator from it.) It won't, however, run PowerPC software. But it's Open Source.
It works... I performed a similar modification on my TI-85, but it isn't 4X faster. It's more like 1.5 times faster, but I added a switch to select between normal and overclocked modes that probably added additional capacitance to the circuit. But it certainly is noticeable. I recall reading that this modification undoes some slowdowns that TI put in to increase battery life.
Tom's Hardware Guide explained how this works. Basically, the multiplier and some other things on the Socket A Thunderbird are set from an initialization code from the motherboard. The multiplier is burned in to the CPU, but in the form of ID pins that are read by the motherboard in order to determine the correct initialization code for the installed CPU. The motherboards that support multiplier adjustments don't read the CPU ID pins but read BIOS settings or DIP switches instead to determine the initialization code to send to the CPU. This basically gets you the best of both worlds: CPU autodetection and remarking prevention, but allows you to overclock it as well.
This is why they used the slogan "The toy store for grown-ups" or "The toy store for big kids" (I can't remember exactly which one) in one of their Christmas advertising campaigns.
the only way to resolve it is to use a multi-row taskbar - sucking up more precious screen space.
My solution to this is to use a multi-row taskbar with autohide. The taskbar isn't there unless you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, and you can make the taskbar as big as necessary. You can also put the taskbar on the side of the screen and see more of the titles, but I've never been able to get used to that.
The biggest possible problem here could result from tying together services (which I think would be illegal in itself, but hey, it didn't stop Microsoft, did it?) As somebody pointed out, Verisign controls 99% of the certificate market because it purchased Thawte. Certificate providers such as Entrust often resell Thawte certs, so there aren't really as many alternatives as you might think. It wouldn't suprise me if Verisign/NSI started only issuing certificates to domains registered through NSI. You want a certificate recognized by most of the world, you have to buy an NSI domain. Verisign/NSI would probably say something like "We have to verify that you are licensed to use this domain before we issue a certificate. We can't do this if you used another registrar. Please transfer your domain to Verisign/NSI to get this certificate. Have a nice day."
And, most importantly, what kind of moron game developer would have a single command that would erase the entire game? Sheesh!
Somebody who doesn't understand that a simple "killall -SEGV game_process" will result in a semi-clean shutdown of the system while making a nice core dump that you can use to go back and debug stuff.
The fact this made it into a release seems to mean that nobody even tried to build this before making the tarball. I know it's a development release, but I'd think they'd at least see if the software compiles.
The Certificate of Authenticity comes with new computers that have Windows on them. An unscrupulous computer company could load Windows on the computers they make without licensing it from Microsoft, but they would not get the certificates to go with the computers. So, when a user who doesn't like software piracy finds out their Windows was supposed to come with a certificate and didn't, they can report them to Microsoft. Of course, the Certificate of Authenticity is a big pain also, because when your Windows gets trashed and you need to reinstall it, you have to use the same number you used to install it the first time unless you format the hard drive. Big pain if you lose your manual and your Windows won't boot far enough to get the Product ID number.
Microsoft's "CD Key", however, is stupid. Hmm, let's see. I copy the CD, I copy the key. Problem solved.
On the same subject... The "Northwood Facility" in Silver Spring, MD, is used by the county school system as a holding school for students whose normal schools are under construction. It is in pretty bad shape also.
This was most likely published as an op-ed piece in the editorial pages. You can write a letter to the editor of your paper and get it published even if it's a bunch of garbage. So, it follows that Mr. Valenti can get a letter to the editor published even though it's garbage. The Washington Post published a letter from Microsoft VP Steve Ballmer (who was responding to an opinion column, I believe) under "Letters to the Editor". This is perfectly fine. If this was published as a news article, there is a problem. However, it's not even written like a news article, so I seriously doubt it.
I'm pretty sure that Enix, not Square, made the Dragon Warrior games. Enix is out of business, so it's possible Square has the rights to these games now or something. However, I haven't followed the console scene for years so this might be wrong.
Actually, I read that the vehicle sensors are basically metal detectors placed under the road. There are wire loops that create a magnetic field, and when your car with its big metal engine and frame passes over it disrupts the magnetic field. This creates a signal to the traffic light controller so it knows that there are cars passing through the intersection.
I don't think this is really a paradigm shift because similar things have been done before. DEC's FX/32, the Java Virtual Machine, and the 68K emulation in the PowerPC MacOS have been doing this for a while. The biggest thing Transmeta has going for them right now is low power consumption, not a software upgradeable processor. Transmeta isn't even positioning this as a software-upgradable processor - they're positioning it as an X86 alternative, and as others have mentioned, the X86 architecture is pretty darn lousy these days.
Besides, software upgradability can't make the hardware run faster. There's a limit to how much faster you can get a processor by simply upgrading it's microcode.
I don't think this is really a paradigm shift because similar things have been done before. DEC's FX/32, the Java Virtual Machine, and the 68K emulation in the PowerPC MacOS have been doing this for a while. The biggest thing Transmeta has going for them right now is low power consumption, not a software upgradeable processor. Besides, software upgradability can't make the hardware run faster. There's a limit to how much faster you can get a processor by simply upgrading it's microcode.
NASA doesn't really like all these attempts to save Mir because they are concerned that Russia can't build enough rockets to satisfy their commitment to ISS as well as Mir. Although ISS can be supplied via the space shuttle, crews have to be launched on Soyuz rockets. This is because the shuttle can only stay in space for a couple of weeks and NASA won't leave astronauts on the space station with no way of getting down. The Soyuz capsules can stay in space for extended periods of time to provide an emergency exit for the station, so NASA decided to use them for ISS crews. I believe that the Soyuz is also necessary to reboost the station. NASA is developing a 7-person crew return vehicle, but they have to use Soyuz rockets until the new CRV is ready. See a NASA Watch/SpaceRef editorial on this here.
...putting an nda into the license agreement is pure lunacy...
Microsoft put a nondisclosure agreement in the license to NT5 beta 1, and probably all the other NT betas too (I only saw the beta 1 license.) So it's been done already. But with UCITA stuff like this could actually be enforced.
Sure, you can sign your own SSL certificates. I did this for the webmail server at my school. However, Netscape/IE/whatever browser you like doesn't ship with the root certificate for the Jesse Kovach Certification Authority, so the browser will complain that the certificate is unrecognized and ask "are you sure you want to connect? this may be insecure" or something to that effect. While most Slashdot readers would probably be smart enough to realize what is going on here and accept the customized certificate, some people will freak out and say "It says it's not going to be secure! They're going to steal my credit card number! Help!" So most sites get a certificate from someone who was able to get a root cert into Netscape. Also, IE 3 will not accept a certificate that is not signed by a root certificate that is in its database.
Another reason that Entrust may be suing is because the certificates they issue are generated from a root belonging to Thawte. Thawte has offered this cross-signing service in the past, but Verisign/Thawte combined may not. This would put a big dent in the way Entrust does business.
With credit cards, if you read the fine print, it tells you what information they collect and what they do with it. These disclosures may be mired in legalese or otherwise obfuscated, but they are there. According to this article, nowhere does ID say they are collecting this information. It would be less of an issue if they mentioned this in the EULA.
They are cramming in all the features that we in desktop computing has.. and give them a few more months and they'll have keyboards too.
You're probably right. The thing about this is that I have been doing some research into the history of the game console industry, and I found out that many of the consoles from the late 70s-early 80s had keyboards and other "computer" features. For example, the Magnavox Odyssey2 had a full keyboard, and Mattel announced (but never released) a keyboard for the Intellivision. The companies felt this would appeal more to families that wanted a computer and not just a game machine. Now it looks like the industry has come full circle, with game machines trying to become computers again. We also have Microsoft licensing a system so that many people can make it - a similar situation to what existed back in the late '70s. Are we headed for the sequel to the Great Video Game Crash of 1983-1984?
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Any monitor can display any color depth. The IBM 8514 would be perfectly happy running 1024x768 interlaced at 24-bit color as opposed to the 256 colors it was designed for. So the $30 graphics card could display true color on the oldest VGA monitor in existence. Resolution, however, is dependent on the monitor. But it is possible to design web pages that look good at multiple resolutions. WIDTH=pixels is your enemy. WIDTH=percent is your friend.
Basilisk is another alternative. It emulates a Mac II, allowing you to run Mac OS up to version 8.1. It supports floppies, CD-ROM drives, Ethernet (but not LocalTalk), hard drive images, and direct access of SCSI devices (plug in a Mac scsi hard drive and you can boot the emulator from it.) It won't, however, run PowerPC software. But it's Open Source.
It works... I performed a similar modification on my TI-85, but it isn't 4X faster. It's more like 1.5 times faster, but I added a switch to select between normal and overclocked modes that probably added additional capacitance to the circuit. But it certainly is noticeable. I recall reading that this modification undoes some slowdowns that TI put in to increase battery life.
Tom's Hardware Guide explained how this works. Basically, the multiplier and some other things on the Socket A Thunderbird are set from an initialization code from the motherboard. The multiplier is burned in to the CPU, but in the form of ID pins that are read by the motherboard in order to determine the correct initialization code for the installed CPU. The motherboards that support multiplier adjustments don't read the CPU ID pins but read BIOS settings or DIP switches instead to determine the initialization code to send to the CPU. This basically gets you the best of both worlds: CPU autodetection and remarking prevention, but allows you to overclock it as well.
This is why they used the slogan "The toy store for grown-ups" or "The toy store for big kids" (I can't remember exactly which one) in one of their Christmas advertising campaigns.
Somebody mentioned Proxomitron - you can get it at http://proxomitron.tripod.com but you have to use Windoze.
My solution to this is to use a multi-row taskbar with autohide. The taskbar isn't there unless you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, and you can make the taskbar as big as necessary. You can also put the taskbar on the side of the screen and see more of the titles, but I've never been able to get used to that.
The biggest possible problem here could result from tying together services (which I think would be illegal in itself, but hey, it didn't stop Microsoft, did it?) As somebody pointed out, Verisign controls 99% of the certificate market because it purchased Thawte. Certificate providers such as Entrust often resell Thawte certs, so there aren't really as many alternatives as you might think. It wouldn't suprise me if Verisign/NSI started only issuing certificates to domains registered through NSI. You want a certificate recognized by most of the world, you have to buy an NSI domain. Verisign/NSI would probably say something like "We have to verify that you are licensed to use this domain before we issue a certificate. We can't do this if you used another registrar. Please transfer your domain to Verisign/NSI to get this certificate. Have a nice day."
I thought I heard Shift-Alt-BLOODBATH or Shift-Alt-BLOODBANK but my TV reception is pretty lousy. Couldn't read the words on the screen or anything.
Somebody who doesn't understand that a simple "killall -SEGV game_process" will result in a semi-clean shutdown of the system while making a nice core dump that you can use to go back and debug stuff.
Just like Slashdot always criticizes DoubleClick while serving DoubleClick ads on some of their pages.
The fact this made it into a release seems to mean that nobody even tried to build this before making the tarball. I know it's a development release, but I'd think they'd at least see if the software compiles.
Microsoft's "CD Key", however, is stupid. Hmm, let's see. I copy the CD, I copy the key. Problem solved.
On the same subject...
The "Northwood Facility" in Silver Spring, MD, is used by the county school system as a holding school for students whose normal schools are under construction. It is in pretty bad shape also.
This was most likely published as an op-ed piece in the editorial pages. You can write a letter to the editor of your paper and get it published even if it's a bunch of garbage. So, it follows that Mr. Valenti can get a letter to the editor published even though it's garbage. The Washington Post published a letter from Microsoft VP Steve Ballmer (who was responding to an opinion column, I believe) under "Letters to the Editor". This is perfectly fine. If this was published as a news article, there is a problem. However, it's not even written like a news article, so I seriously doubt it.
I'm pretty sure that Enix, not Square, made the Dragon Warrior games. Enix is out of business, so it's possible Square has the rights to these games now or something. However, I haven't followed the console scene for years so this might be wrong.
Actually, I read that the vehicle sensors are basically metal detectors placed under the road. There are wire loops that create a magnetic field, and when your car with its big metal engine and frame passes over it disrupts the magnetic field. This creates a signal to the traffic light controller so it knows that there are cars passing through the intersection.
Besides, software upgradability can't make the hardware run faster. There's a limit to how much faster you can get a processor by simply upgrading it's microcode.
I don't think this is really a paradigm shift because similar things have been done before. DEC's FX/32, the Java Virtual Machine, and the 68K emulation in the PowerPC MacOS have been doing this for a while. The biggest thing Transmeta has going for them right now is low power consumption, not a software upgradeable processor. Besides, software upgradability can't make the hardware run faster. There's a limit to how much faster you can get a processor by simply upgrading it's microcode.
NASA doesn't really like all these attempts to save Mir because they are concerned that Russia can't build enough rockets to satisfy their commitment to ISS as well as Mir. Although ISS can be supplied via the space shuttle, crews have to be launched on Soyuz rockets. This is because the shuttle can only stay in space for a couple of weeks and NASA won't leave astronauts on the space station with no way of getting down. The Soyuz capsules can stay in space for extended periods of time to provide an emergency exit for the station, so NASA decided to use them for ISS crews. I believe that the Soyuz is also necessary to reboost the station. NASA is developing a 7-person crew return vehicle, but they have to use Soyuz rockets until the new CRV is ready. See a NASA Watch/SpaceRef editorial on this here.
Microsoft put a nondisclosure agreement in the license to NT5 beta 1, and probably all the other NT betas too (I only saw the beta 1 license.) So it's been done already. But with UCITA stuff like this could actually be enforced.
It's probably something like 59.6 and 39.8, which when rounded off equal 60 and 40 but when added equal 99.4 which rounds to 99.
Another reason that Entrust may be suing is because the certificates they issue are generated from a root belonging to Thawte. Thawte has offered this cross-signing service in the past, but Verisign/Thawte combined may not. This would put a big dent in the way Entrust does business.
With credit cards, if you read the fine print, it tells you what information they collect and what they do with it. These disclosures may be mired in legalese or otherwise obfuscated, but they are there. According to this article, nowhere does ID say they are collecting this information. It would be less of an issue if they mentioned this in the EULA.
You're probably right. The thing about this is that I have been doing some research into the history of the game console industry, and I found out that many of the consoles from the late 70s-early 80s had keyboards and other "computer" features. For example, the Magnavox Odyssey2 had a full keyboard, and Mattel announced (but never released) a keyboard for the Intellivision. The companies felt this would appeal more to families that wanted a computer and not just a game machine. Now it looks like the industry has come full circle, with game machines trying to become computers again. We also have Microsoft licensing a system so that many people can make it - a similar situation to what existed back in the late '70s. Are we headed for the sequel to the Great Video Game Crash of 1983-1984?