Seriously, though, look at Fox News. This isn't a New Media problem, its a general media problem. If you can't tell fact from rumor or conjecture, get off the 'net.
MS warns against using Access databases for enterprise databases. There is a difference between Access and an Access database. Access can be used as a front end for other ODBC datasources, as long as you have a driver for them. Don't use mdb files as datasources, but using Access as a front end is not a bad idea. Your argument is kind of like saying "Don't use Netscape because Netscape Enterprise Server sucks."
I'll bet if you're working for a company of any size, they made you sign a piece of paper saying that you were unaware of any conflict of interest between you and the company, and if you were aware of such a conflict, you would bring it to the attention of the company's counsel immeadiatly. However, I think instead of asking Slashdot, you should ask a lawyer. Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
I just installed the Aiwa CDC-Mp3 in my car last weekend. What can I say? They weren't lying about it playing Mp3s. Here's what I've learned:
It skips in the cold. Seems like when its about 15 to 20 degrees out, it doesn't like to play Mp3s too well. However, after about 5 minutes, it seems alright.
It could be my speaker system, (factory '90 BMW 4 speaker system) but it seems like I get a lot more distortion when I turn the volume way up then I did with my old stereo. (This could also be due to my less than stellar installation procedures, who knows)
The face-plate has the habit of popping off if you don't attach it just right... Not really a big deal, I almost always get it the second time. Also, it comes with a little screw to permenantly attach the plate if you want to.
It reads the data about the Mp3s from the ID3 tags, so get them right before you burn.
Apparently, the thing is supposed to read CD-RWs, I haven't tried it, but it seems plausible, all the other claims seem to ring true.
I'm not an audiophile, but I guess the playback of the mp3s is good. It doesn't sound particularly worse than playing through winamp.
It allows you to have directories of Mp3s on your CD, and it allows you to skip between folders as well as skipping between mp3s within the folder.
The am/fm reception is fine. Its as good or better than the factory stereo I had, and much better than the Blaupunkt I had in my old car.
My biggest complaint is that the thing looks ridiculous. My old stereo had a small amber display (that matched the amber displays for everything else in my car). This thing is blue and green, and when you change the volume, it flashes. Bleh. Other than that though, I suppose it has my endorsement. It was the only stereo I could find that had all the features I wanted, at a price I would pay.
I would look real hard at the Kenwood, but since the Aiwa is not crap, I have a hard time believing that I could justify spending twice as much for a very similiar thing.
Anyways, if you can find one in a store (I couldn't) try to give it a listen with the speakers they've got there. If you have the factory speakers in your Porche, you'll probably need a high to low converter so the speakers work right (or just let someone else do it, I should've.). Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
The same thing happened to me! I bought my grandmother a 7 disc changer from Sony. Without reading the box or talking to the sales rep, I decided that this was the best possible choice for me. On Christmas morning, we were shocked to discover that the Sony DVD player only plays DVDs! Then when I read the manual, I realized that Sony intentionally left out support for my 45 rpm records! I had to cut around the outside of the record, but finally I made it fit, but it still didn't play. I was so terribly crushed that the corporate whores at Sony didn't read my mind and supply support for 45s that it was three days before I realized I couldn't play 8-tracks in it either! I called the customer support line to complain, and they told me that in order to play 8-tracks or 45s, I was actually going to have to buy seperate players for each media type! Why, I'll bet the 8-track player doesn't even run Linux. (And if it does, its probably Red Hat. Pfeh.)
Not quite. You're probably right. I'm only spitting out what first came to me. As for zealotry, I'm posting from IE 5 running under Win2k. A zealot I am not. When I refer to grabbing GPL'd code, I'm not thinking of second rate GUIs like Gnome or KDE, I'm thinking of the kernel code which, IMHO, is not mediocre in any way.
You are correct about the office software bit. Anyone (well, any zealot) who tells me I'd be better off running StarOffice (which I've done, btw) than MS Office is probably smoking crack. However, I am afraid of what will happen with this.NET initiative. I'm concerned because people are using Windows in places where it is less than appropriate. For the desktop, Windows is fine, in the machine room, I'd rather see Solaris or Linux (or even Irix). I see MS hijacking XML (How? It is not my place to ask how, but I'm sure some legal eagles here could help me on this) and SOAP, and locking the rest of the world out.
Enough rambling. This comes down to problems more complex than who has the best office software. The real battle isn't for the desktop. The real battle is for the back end.
Anyway, I stand by my original assertion. MS is not going to come up with a successful linux distro anytime soon. Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
I don't think things will happen that way. After the venom spit between MS and the linux community, I think that if MS co-opted linux, the community would spit in their collective eye.
The comparison to Netscape, although convienient, is not good. Netscape had to make money. Although some linux vendors also have to make money, others do not. If MS were to jump into the linux game, who would pay for their OS? No one. They may charge for the GUI, but what good is a Microsoft OS without the GUI?
I think that MS is more likely to steal GPL'd code, integrate it into Windows, put an ultra-glitzy start menu on it. Then they can continue their "naked PC" campaign and continue asking corporate IT departments, "Who are you gonna sue when it all comes crashing down?"
This has to be a troll, but I can't resist. If you nationalize the arts, you won't have to think about what the Mother Company wants, you'll have to think about what Trent Lott wants. Which is worse? Besides, I don't think gaming could be considered a "fine" art. Perhaps a commercial art, but the goal of video games is not expression. It is money. Same with movies. Artists don't have focus groups to find out where they should take their work. I'll bet EA does.
If ROT13 counts as "encryption", then pencils, paper and brains are a circumvention device. Use and/or possesion of any of the above will constitute a federal crime.
Well, I have a grasp of Eiffel, and as I understand, the first versions of Eiffel didn't compile to byte code (and most still don't). Eiffel compiled to C++ code, then used gcc or another C++ compiler to compile into native binaries. The C++ code that was compiled from Eiffel did have automatic garbage collection built in as a result of being generated. As long as you aren't too concerned with "tweaking" things to make them very efficient (or efficient at all;). Eiffel's solution was inelegant, but functional. Lately, small-eiffel has added byte code support (but continues to have multiple inheritance). So I guess this begs the question: We have STL, we can build standard C++ libraries for a windowing toolkit that will run across platforms (QT and GTK are two solutions that spring to mind), why don't we use a standardized, portable C++ as the spec to compile to when building these new ultra-high level languages? With a little bit of work, it wouldn't be too hard to make the C++ step of the compilations utterly transparent. For that matter, it wouldn't be much of a technical hurdle to build a Java -> C++ -> Native Code compiler as a way to test the viability of this concept. Either way, I don't think building a new VM is the solution. Give me the Java VM or no VM at all!
Here's an amusing disclaimer from one of AMD's news releases regarding the x86-64 chip. Of course this is just to protect themselves from lawsuits, but is pretty funny anyways:
Forward looking statements in this document include the risks that developers may not support the x86-64 technology and design tools for the technology in a timely manner or at all; that AMD will not successfully implement the technology in its products on a timely basis; and that AMD may not effectively penetrate the enterprise market.
What have this gang of people done that isn't a "workalike" for something produced either in academia or in a corporation.
Gnutella?
Actually, even that's probably a workalike for something created in academia. The fact is, that there are precious few new ideas coming from anywhere. Most software from corporations are also "workalikes" of research projects or academic projects. Outlook, Windows, MacOS, IM, all of these are workalikes of some other system developed in the halls of research either in a corporation of academic environment.
Already the MPAA is calling its initial victory in the DeCSS case a warning to all Silicon Valley types, that if they keep it up they will shut the whole internet down if it facilitates piracy!
I had been down for a few days over this entire evil-corporation-taking-over-the-world thing. Then something occured to me that made me feel much better. Let them try. We don't need them. That's why tools like Napster and deCSS exist. Corporations are nothing but the conglomeration of talent into an economically viable format. "Need that music distributed? We've got trucks and stores! Need that video decrypted? Well, it turns out we developed the scheme, and we can give you what you need!" Nowadays, however, we don't need them. I remember when I first saw the web. I was amazed that I didn't have to pay for an expensive tool to build a web page. All I'd have to do was learn something. The barrier for entry wasn't money anymore. It was knowledge. So it is now with music, movies, and ideas. The barrier to entry isn't money. It's talent. And that scares the talentless hacks who've worked for 50 years to accumulate enough money to buy the world! Anyway, I'm going sit back and watch them burn. The courts don't matter. If Sony or anyone else wants to take this battle out of the courts of law, we'll meet them there. That's where we seem to accomplish the most anyway.
I'd love to see them try to shut down the Internet! It would be like watching a pack of hungry wolves turning on each other! MPAA wants the 'net shut down. Time Warner/AOL/Satan owns the worlds largest ISP. Everyone is tangled up in this mess. It would be a great show to see.
if you alienate your consumers, they'll go elsewhere and there goes your brand loyalty that you so cherish and fought YEARS to promote.
Wait a minute. You may not want to go elsewhere. Sony might sue you for changing your brand loyalty after they invested so much time and money into building their name. So it is with this Napster debacle. They think they have a basic right to corporate survival. I say the ball is in their court. Let's see if they can survive these trying times without attacking their own customers.
What about when they pass UCITA, requiring free software to have a license? We won't be able to write GPL'd software anymore without taking on alot of responsibility. What happens then? There will be no free software and no recourse. Seems to me like big business is going to have their cake and eat it too.
First of all, it would be alot easier to log all outgoing 404s from your server, and notify the system admin when they occur. It sounds to me like these guys were just looking for the most expensive way to do this, and consequently, get the most VC money. Hell, if I told a VC that I was going to write a shell script to record outgoing 404s, I wouldn't even be able to buy a new Porche!
For those of you who want to try, here's a starting point:
It's the kind of thing a 19yr old CS student would think was good.
Well, when I was a 19 year old CS student, I thought the ad was pretty bad. However, as an editorial comment in the Post, it makes more sense. It really does show in the most blunt, concrete way possible that Linux is a becoming a more viable alternative (on the desktop) to Windows.
I dunno, maybe it's just a US thing, the gung-ho anti-competitor advertising (adverts in th UK are not allowed to mention competitors).
Perhaps we should refer to the "leading Operating System" or "Brand X"?;) I can see it now: a television commercial with Penguin Computing removing a pet stain with time-lapse photography while "Brand X" just sort of sits impotently.
Would that migration kit be something like Wine? People wouldn't need coupons if they choose Linux.
No, I imagine this kit would work without 6-8 hours of configuration. I think the Windows migration kit would be a piece of software that runs while your PC is running Windows. It will collect user info, files, etc. then copy OS X to your box. Then it will reconstitute that info and those files in OS X without you needing to do any config work at all. Remember, OS 9 already runs most of the software that Wine can run for a few moments at a time. Don't get me wrong, I think Wine has great potential, but it isn't even close to there yet.
What the EU actually proposed was a value-added tax on goods and services, sold over the Internet by non-EU businesses, to customers inside the EU in order to level the playing field for EU-based companies that already have to charge a value-added tax.
Ha! "Level the playing field" I love it. Why don't they just call it what it is: a tariff. Gosh, if Pat Buchanan were European he'd love it, too! This is the same thing the US gov't did in the 80's to "level the playing field" because we made inferior cars. (I still won't drive an American car, except maybe a Mexican made PT Cruiser!)
Anyways, on a more serious note, American business could see this as a problem. It seems like there are alot of wedges being thrown up between the US and the EU. As far as American business is concerned, this is a big deal. I imagine alot of companies were targeting the EU as a possible market and this tax will throw up another barrier to their entry.
These days, the EU is the biggest economic and political competitor to the US. I fear that if both parties don't get over the nationalistic/insular feelings toward each other the world could be heading toward a polarized situation not unlike the situation between the US and the USSR 20 years ago.
The next great thing has to entice the everyman with somthing innovative that could only have existed through this new medium.
If this new content can only exist on the internet, wouldn't it then be the medium that defines the message? Whatever content that grabs the heart and mind of everyman, then, would take a back seat to the medium upon which the content is delivered.
Not simply rehashing old ideas. From what I have seen we have yet to concieve this.
Maybe (and I hate to even bring this up) the medium of the web, and I restrict my thoughts to the domain of the web only, doesn't have the capability yet to convey any kind of content (aside from porn) that will entice the everyman.
There is hope though. This medium is changing and evolving at a rate faster than any other medium has before. Look at print, radio and television. Print hasn't changed very much since its conception. Radio only had one revolutionary step (from AM to FM). Television has gone through three revolutions (Black and White -> Color -> HDTV). The web, on the other hand, since its inception, has gone through so many changes that I can't even begin to count them. So from a cultural point of view, this is the first really malleable medium. That's really fascinating.
Why doesn't someone put together a package delivery system that will run the game regardless of the OS? We could have a kernel on the CD, with software that'll probe the system, config for the proper hardware and launch the game. Viola! No OS, no overhead from Windows (or X for that matter) and no setup problems. You wouldn't need to worry about reconfiguring your kernel to handle the latest 3d card because that'll already have been taken care of for you.
Slashdot Mirror
They're announcing the most "intelligent" city in New York.
Looks like Time Warner is going to do to AOL what AOL did to Netscape.
Hey look ma! I just made some news!
Seriously, though, look at Fox News. This isn't a New Media problem, its a general media problem. If you can't tell fact from rumor or conjecture, get off the 'net.
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
MS warns against using Access databases for enterprise databases. There is a difference between Access and an Access database. Access can be used as a front end for other ODBC datasources, as long as you have a driver for them. Don't use mdb files as datasources, but using Access as a front end is not a bad idea. Your argument is kind of like saying "Don't use Netscape because Netscape Enterprise Server sucks."
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
I'll bet if you're working for a company of any size, they made you sign a piece of paper saying that you were unaware of any conflict of interest between you and the company, and if you were aware of such a conflict, you would bring it to the attention of the company's counsel immeadiatly. However, I think instead of asking Slashdot, you should ask a lawyer.
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
Here's what I've learned:
- It skips in the cold. Seems like when its about 15 to 20 degrees out, it doesn't like to play Mp3s too well. However, after about 5 minutes, it seems alright.
- It could be my speaker system, (factory '90 BMW 4 speaker system) but it seems like I get a lot more distortion when I turn the volume way up then I did with my old stereo. (This could also be due to my less than stellar installation procedures, who knows)
- The face-plate has the habit of popping off if you don't attach it just right... Not really a big deal, I almost always get it the second time. Also, it comes with a little screw to permenantly attach the plate if you want to.
- It reads the data about the Mp3s from the ID3 tags, so get them right before you burn.
- Apparently, the thing is supposed to read CD-RWs, I haven't tried it, but it seems plausible, all the other claims seem to ring true.
- I'm not an audiophile, but I guess the playback of the mp3s is good. It doesn't sound particularly worse than playing through winamp.
- It allows you to have directories of Mp3s on your CD, and it allows you to skip between folders as well as skipping between mp3s within the folder.
- The am/fm reception is fine. Its as good or better than the factory stereo I had, and much better than the Blaupunkt I had in my old car.
- My biggest complaint is that the thing looks ridiculous. My old stereo had a small amber display (that matched the amber displays for everything else in my car). This thing is blue and green, and when you change the volume, it flashes. Bleh. Other than that though, I suppose it has my endorsement. It was the only stereo I could find that had all the features I wanted, at a price I would pay.
I would look real hard at the Kenwood, but since the Aiwa is not crap, I have a hard time believing that I could justify spending twice as much for a very similiar thing.Anyways, if you can find one in a store (I couldn't) try to give it a listen with the speakers they've got there. If you have the factory speakers in your Porche, you'll probably need a high to low converter so the speakers work right (or just let someone else do it, I should've.).
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
The same thing happened to me! I bought my grandmother a 7 disc changer from Sony. Without reading the box or talking to the sales rep, I decided that this was the best possible choice for me. On Christmas morning, we were shocked to discover that the Sony DVD player only plays DVDs! Then when I read the manual, I realized that Sony intentionally left out support for my 45 rpm records! I had to cut around the outside of the record, but finally I made it fit, but it still didn't play. I was so terribly crushed that the corporate whores at Sony didn't read my mind and supply support for 45s that it was three days before I realized I couldn't play 8-tracks in it either! I called the customer support line to complain, and they told me that in order to play 8-tracks or 45s, I was actually going to have to buy seperate players for each media type! Why, I'll bet the 8-track player doesn't even run Linux. (And if it does, its probably Red Hat. Pfeh.)
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
Foolish zealot.
.NET initiative. I'm concerned because people are using Windows in places where it is less than appropriate. For the desktop, Windows is fine, in the machine room, I'd rather see Solaris or Linux (or even Irix). I see MS hijacking XML (How? It is not my place to ask how, but I'm sure some legal eagles here could help me on this) and SOAP, and locking the rest of the world out.
Not quite. You're probably right. I'm only spitting out what first came to me. As for zealotry, I'm posting from IE 5 running under Win2k. A zealot I am not. When I refer to grabbing GPL'd code, I'm not thinking of second rate GUIs like Gnome or KDE, I'm thinking of the kernel code which, IMHO, is not mediocre in any way.
You are correct about the office software bit. Anyone (well, any zealot) who tells me I'd be better off running StarOffice (which I've done, btw) than MS Office is probably smoking crack. However, I am afraid of what will happen with this
Enough rambling. This comes down to problems more complex than who has the best office software. The real battle isn't for the desktop. The real battle is for the back end.
Anyway, I stand by my original assertion. MS is not going to come up with a successful linux distro anytime soon.
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
I don't think things will happen that way. After the venom spit between MS and the linux community, I think that if MS co-opted linux, the community would spit in their collective eye.
The comparison to Netscape, although convienient, is not good. Netscape had to make money. Although some linux vendors also have to make money, others do not. If MS were to jump into the linux game, who would pay for their OS? No one. They may charge for the GUI, but what good is a Microsoft OS without the GUI?
I think that MS is more likely to steal GPL'd code, integrate it into Windows, put an ultra-glitzy start menu on it. Then they can continue their "naked PC" campaign and continue asking corporate IT departments, "Who are you gonna sue when it all comes crashing down?"
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
This has to be a troll, but I can't resist. If you nationalize the arts, you won't have to think about what the Mother Company wants, you'll have to think about what Trent Lott wants. Which is worse? Besides, I don't think gaming could be considered a "fine" art. Perhaps a commercial art, but the goal of video games is not expression. It is money. Same with movies. Artists don't have focus groups to find out where they should take their work. I'll bet EA does.
47% of males age 18 to 34 prefer cubism.
If ROT13 counts as "encryption", then pencils, paper and brains are a circumvention device. Use and/or possesion of any of the above will constitute a federal crime.
The only consumer goverments have are welfare clients.
Are highways welfare? Ha! I can see it now, "Those damn commies are building roads again!"
Well, I have a grasp of Eiffel, and as I understand, the first versions of Eiffel didn't compile to byte code (and most still don't). Eiffel compiled to C++ code, then used gcc or another C++ compiler to compile into native binaries. The C++ code that was compiled from Eiffel did have automatic garbage collection built in as a result of being generated. As long as you aren't too concerned with "tweaking" things to make them very efficient (or efficient at all ;). Eiffel's solution was inelegant, but functional. Lately, small-eiffel has added byte code support (but continues to have multiple inheritance). So I guess this begs the question: We have STL, we can build standard C++ libraries for a windowing toolkit that will run across platforms (QT and GTK are two solutions that spring to mind), why don't we use a standardized, portable C++ as the spec to compile to when building these new ultra-high level languages? With a little bit of work, it wouldn't be too hard to make the C++ step of the compilations utterly transparent. For that matter, it wouldn't be much of a technical hurdle to build a Java -> C++ -> Native Code compiler as a way to test the viability of this concept. Either way, I don't think building a new VM is the solution. Give me the Java VM or no VM at all!
Here's an amusing disclaimer from one of AMD's news releases regarding the x86-64 chip. Of course this is just to protect themselves from lawsuits, but is pretty funny anyways:
Forward looking statements in this document include the risks that developers may not support the x86-64 technology and design tools for the technology in a timely manner or at all; that AMD will not successfully implement the technology in its products on a timely basis; and that AMD may not effectively penetrate the enterprise market.
What have this gang of people done that isn't a "workalike" for something produced either in academia or in a corporation.
Gnutella?
Actually, even that's probably a workalike for something created in academia. The fact is, that there are precious few new ideas coming from anywhere. Most software from corporations are also "workalikes" of research projects or academic projects. Outlook, Windows, MacOS, IM, all of these are workalikes of some other system developed in the halls of research either in a corporation of academic environment.
Already the MPAA is calling its initial victory in the DeCSS case a warning to all Silicon Valley types, that if they keep it up they will shut the whole internet down if it facilitates piracy!
I had been down for a few days over this entire evil-corporation-taking-over-the-world thing. Then something occured to me that made me feel much better. Let them try. We don't need them. That's why tools like Napster and deCSS exist. Corporations are nothing but the conglomeration of talent into an economically viable format. "Need that music distributed? We've got trucks and stores! Need that video decrypted? Well, it turns out we developed the scheme, and we can give you what you need!" Nowadays, however, we don't need them. I remember when I first saw the web. I was amazed that I didn't have to pay for an expensive tool to build a web page. All I'd have to do was learn something. The barrier for entry wasn't money anymore. It was knowledge. So it is now with music, movies, and ideas. The barrier to entry isn't money. It's talent. And that scares the talentless hacks who've worked for 50 years to accumulate enough money to buy the world! Anyway, I'm going sit back and watch them burn. The courts don't matter. If Sony or anyone else wants to take this battle out of the courts of law, we'll meet them there. That's where we seem to accomplish the most anyway.
I'd love to see them try to shut down the Internet! It would be like watching a pack of hungry wolves turning on each other! MPAA wants the 'net shut down. Time Warner/AOL/Satan owns the worlds largest ISP. Everyone is tangled up in this mess. It would be a great show to see.
if you alienate your consumers, they'll go elsewhere and there goes your brand loyalty that you so cherish and fought YEARS to promote.
Wait a minute. You may not want to go elsewhere. Sony might sue you for changing your brand loyalty after they invested so much time and money into building their name. So it is with this Napster debacle. They think they have a basic right to corporate survival. I say the ball is in their court. Let's see if they can survive these trying times without attacking their own customers.
What about when they pass UCITA, requiring free software to have a license? We won't be able to write GPL'd software anymore without taking on alot of responsibility. What happens then? There will be no free software and no recourse. Seems to me like big business is going to have their cake and eat it too.
Rami James
.725 proof blood?
Guy with 1.45 BAL
That's
First of all, it would be alot easier to log all outgoing 404s from your server, and notify the system admin when they occur. It sounds to me like these guys were just looking for the most expensive way to do this, and consequently, get the most VC money. Hell, if I told a VC that I was going to write a shell script to record outgoing 404s, I wouldn't even be able to buy a new Porche!
For those of you who want to try, here's a starting point:
grep "File does not exist:" error_log > 404s_log
;)
It's the kind of thing a 19yr old CS student would think was good.
;) I can see it now: a television commercial with Penguin Computing removing a pet stain with time-lapse photography while "Brand X" just sort of sits impotently.
Well, when I was a 19 year old CS student, I thought the ad was pretty bad. However, as an editorial comment in the Post, it makes more sense. It really does show in the most blunt, concrete way possible that Linux is a becoming a more viable alternative (on the desktop) to Windows.
I dunno, maybe it's just a US thing, the gung-ho anti-competitor advertising (adverts in th UK are not allowed to mention competitors).
Perhaps we should refer to the "leading Operating System" or "Brand X"?
--
Would that migration kit be something like Wine? People wouldn't need coupons if they choose Linux.
No, I imagine this kit would work without 6-8 hours of configuration. I think the Windows migration kit would be a piece of software that runs while your PC is running Windows. It will collect user info, files, etc. then copy OS X to your box. Then it will reconstitute that info and those files in OS X without you needing to do any config work at all. Remember, OS 9 already runs most of the software that Wine can run for a few moments at a time. Don't get me wrong, I think Wine has great potential, but it isn't even close to there yet.
What the EU actually proposed was a value-added tax on goods and services, sold over the Internet by non-EU businesses, to customers inside the EU in order to level the playing field for EU-based companies that already have to charge a value-added tax.
Ha! "Level the playing field" I love it. Why don't they just call it what it is: a tariff. Gosh, if Pat Buchanan were European he'd love it, too! This is the same thing the US gov't did in the 80's to "level the playing field" because we made inferior cars. (I still won't drive an American car, except maybe a Mexican made PT Cruiser!)
Anyways, on a more serious note, American business could see this as a problem. It seems like there are alot of wedges being thrown up between the US and the EU. As far as American business is concerned, this is a big deal. I imagine alot of companies were targeting the EU as a possible market and this tax will throw up another barrier to their entry.
These days, the EU is the biggest economic and political competitor to the US. I fear that if both parties don't get over the nationalistic/insular feelings toward each other the world could be heading toward a polarized situation not unlike the situation between the US and the USSR 20 years ago.
The next great thing has to entice the everyman with somthing innovative that could only have existed through this new medium.
If this new content can only exist on the internet, wouldn't it then be the medium that defines the message? Whatever content that grabs the heart and mind of everyman, then, would take a back seat to the medium upon which the content is delivered.
Not simply rehashing old ideas. From what I have seen we have yet to concieve this.
Maybe (and I hate to even bring this up) the medium of the web, and I restrict my thoughts to the domain of the web only, doesn't have the capability yet to convey any kind of content (aside from porn) that will entice the everyman.
There is hope though. This medium is changing and evolving at a rate faster than any other medium has before. Look at print, radio and television. Print hasn't changed very much since its conception. Radio only had one revolutionary step (from AM to FM). Television has gone through three revolutions (Black and White -> Color -> HDTV). The web, on the other hand, since its inception, has gone through so many changes that I can't even begin to count them. So from a cultural point of view, this is the first really malleable medium. That's really fascinating.
Why doesn't someone put together a package delivery system that will run the game regardless of the OS? We could have a kernel on the CD, with software that'll probe the system, config for the proper hardware and launch the game. Viola! No OS, no overhead from Windows (or X for that matter) and no setup problems. You wouldn't need to worry about reconfiguring your kernel to handle the latest 3d card because that'll already have been taken care of for you.