Especially in areas where funding for schools is absolutely horrible. I know you anti-advertisement-nazis will jump all over this, but there is NO harm in showing some pepsi ads on the screen while no one is at the computer. I mean, hell, they might not even HAVE those computers if it weren't for the advertisements.
These schools need funding, they get it through showing advertisements in a non-obtrusive manner. I say that all underfunded schools should do this. Some school systems need as much money as they can get...
OH NO! GOD FORBID THAT SLASHDOT HAVE AN ARTICLE THAT DOESN'T BASH MICROSOFT!
Just because you do everything in your power to be an idiot and think that everything Microsoft == the spawn of the devil doesn't mean that everyone else shares that moronic viewpoint.
Nearly every important story scene, as well as many other scenes, will feature voice acting. Characters' facial expressions will also change as they speak, an FF first. Gamers with hearing disabilities can rest easy, though; not only will subtitles be included, the voices can be turned off entirely.
Voice acting has really limited the size of games; any game with a long playtime has had to stay away from it. It's just too much trouble to bring in voice actors for even the simplest parts, a Final Fantasy sized game would just be too expensive and time consuming to produce.
FFX has full voice acting. Of course, it's on a DVD-ROM, so they had plenty of space, but can you imagine all that speech?
I see only a couple uses for this technology. One is to make sure the money isn't counterfeit. I'm sure we can all agree that this is a GOOD thing.
The other is to track where money goes. This is where people are getting needlessly paranoid. Unless you supply some personal information to the people who are giving you the money, it will not be able to be traced to you. Even if the money is gotten from a place which DOES know who you are and keeps a record of the fact that you have certain bills, there is absolutely NO WAY that they can trace back anything to YOU. I'm sure if this is implemented, 99% of places that accept cash won't have a reader. What's to say you didn't spend it there, then they gave it to someone else as change?
Come on, every little thing is NOT a violation of your "rights". Welcome to Slashdot, home of the paranoid.
Allright, fine. Sometimes networks have both a radio and tv station. You don't see them advertising other tv stations on their radio station, or other radio stations on their TV station.
That's cross-market, and it certainly happens frequently.
Here's how the Internet Explorer Smart Tags work: On a PC with Windows XP, when you open any Web page, squiggly purple lines instantly appear under certain types of words. In the version I tested, these browser-generated underlines appear beneath the names of companies, sports teams and colleges. But other types of terms could be highlighted in future versions.
OH NO! IF I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT SOMETHING IS OR WHO SOMEONE IS, IT WILL OFFER ME A HELPFUL LINK TO INFORMATION! GOD FORBID!
In addition, Microsoft says, it will provide a free bit of programming code, called a "meta tag," that site owners could use to bar any Smart Tags from appearing on their sites.
So if you DON'T want them to use it, just stick in a tag. Sounds fair, right? Okay, now read THIS:
Microsoft says the Internet Explorer Smart Tags feature, which is similar to a Smart Tag feature in the new Office XP, will be turned off by default in the final release, and that users will have to consciously choose to enable it by activating a setting buried in the browser's menus.
... and you only turn it on if you WANT the help!
MS is adding a USEFUL feature which is VOLUNTARY to the user and which can be DISABLED by the creator, and you're bashing them?
... and people wonder why everyone calls Slashdot biased.
Did anyone really expect Microsoft to start slowing down? They're the biggest and most profitable software company out there. The quality of what they sell is really irrelevant from a business standpoint. What matters is that they know how to sell it, keep selling it, and make large quantities of money from selling it. They do that well. Very well.
How many people here DIDN'T know that Microsoft was going strong?
Honestly, I don't think this article was posted to inform us of anything, or to be interesting. I think the sole reason that this was posted was to see the flames fly at Microsoft. If that's the case, you really need to grow up.
Well of COURSE it's going to be plain. I'm sure they anticipated the flood of SlashDotters going over there to check it out, and with a page as small as that, the bandwidth used will drop dramatically from what it would be if there were a full fledged presentation.
Sure, it's big news that they've admitted to it, but will anything really change? As someone has already noted, this is actually a story from back in April. There has been no outburst so far(except for the Anti-Microsoft-But-I-Don't-Know-Why people who will soon flood this thread).
The world is too dependent on Microsoft, and Microsoft is too good at lying for this to really make any difference. If they did indeed put it in on purpose, all they have to say is that the programmers did it on their own and they had nothing to do with it... and only those programmers had access, so it doesn't really mean much. See how easy that is? Now imagine professional lawyers going over that and making it sound as confusing and convincing as possible.
This is not the end of Microsoft. Not even close. Their attitude about it is probably, "'Eh, whatever. Shit happens." They're still going to continue to rake in the dough, and the world will continue on like nothing has happened.
The only difference is that the Anti-MS crew has more anti-MS ammunition now (not that anyone will really listen to them about it, though.)
Are you a soccer mom?
Are you not content with distracting yourself from driving your Land Yacht with a plain old cellphone?
Do you hate how you have to miss the current episode of "Days of Our Lives" when you go to pick up little Jimmy from kindergarten?
Fear not! There is a solution to your problems - A retinal display!
...
...
God help us all. The thing is, you KNOW there's going to be people who will do just that.
The paper is NOT illegal in itself. A perfect analogy would be the instructions on how to make a nuclear bomb. They're not illegal. (IIRC, TIME or some other high profile magazine printed out the instructions in one of their issues). However, if you go out and MAKE a nuclear bomb (easier said than done) and use it, THAT's when it becomes illegal.
This paper is no different from that article. It just provides the framework for being able to make the hard/software (also easier said than done) to circumvent SDMI, and using THAT is what's illegal, NOT the paper itself.
If Linux were a beer, you wouldn't be able to play your favorite drinking games with it. Nevertheless, drinking it would give you a false sense of superiority over all the people who don't drink it.
There's nothing worse than looking forward to a game, beating it, and then...it's over. Talk about your replay value. I wish they would incorporate this idea into more of today's adventure/RPG video games. They did it then...why not now?
A game came out for the PS2 recently called Shadow of Destiny and I think one of the major things they were aiming for in the game was replayability. The game centers around time travel and they wanted you to go back and play again and again to see how the different choices you make affect everything.
Very good game, I highly recommend it. It's one of the main reasons I got a PS2 in the first place.
Slashdot Mirror
Especially in areas where funding for schools is absolutely horrible. I know you anti-advertisement-nazis will jump all over this, but there is NO harm in showing some pepsi ads on the screen while no one is at the computer. I mean, hell, they might not even HAVE those computers if it weren't for the advertisements.
These schools need funding, they get it through showing advertisements in a non-obtrusive manner. I say that all underfunded schools should do this. Some school systems need as much money as they can get...
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Yes, and exactly how much more expensive was it?
Right. That's what I thought.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
OH NO! GOD FORBID THAT SLASHDOT HAVE AN ARTICLE THAT DOESN'T BASH MICROSOFT!
Just because you do everything in your power to be an idiot and think that everything Microsoft == the spawn of the devil doesn't mean that everyone else shares that moronic viewpoint.
Grow up.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Err, keep in mind that the game won't have to be NEARLY as high-resolution as the movie.
Oh, also, I think the movie was closer to 2.5 hours. Don't recall exactly.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Here it is:
Nearly every important story scene, as well as many other scenes, will feature voice acting. Characters' facial expressions will also change as they speak, an FF first. Gamers with hearing disabilities can rest easy, though; not only will subtitles be included, the voices can be turned off entirely.
From: http://www.thegia.com/psx2/ff10/ff10.html
So maybe it's not FULL voice acting, but I get the impression that there's a LOT of it.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Voice acting has really limited the size of games; any game with a long playtime has had to stay away from it. It's just too much trouble to bring in voice actors for even the simplest parts, a Final Fantasy sized game would just be too expensive and time consuming to produce.
FFX has full voice acting. Of course, it's on a DVD-ROM, so they had plenty of space, but can you imagine all that speech?
-- Dr. Eldarion --
I see only a couple uses for this technology. One is to make sure the money isn't counterfeit. I'm sure we can all agree that this is a GOOD thing.
The other is to track where money goes. This is where people are getting needlessly paranoid. Unless you supply some personal information to the people who are giving you the money, it will not be able to be traced to you. Even if the money is gotten from a place which DOES know who you are and keeps a record of the fact that you have certain bills, there is absolutely NO WAY that they can trace back anything to YOU. I'm sure if this is implemented, 99% of places that accept cash won't have a reader. What's to say you didn't spend it there, then they gave it to someone else as change?
Come on, every little thing is NOT a violation of your "rights". Welcome to Slashdot, home of the paranoid.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Allright, fine. Sometimes networks have both a radio and tv station. You don't see them advertising other tv stations on their radio station, or other radio stations on their TV station.
That's cross-market, and it certainly happens frequently.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Would you be opposed to them using a third-party program to highlight words in your pages so they could get information on them more easily?
Probably not.
This is no different than one of these programs.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Wait, what is this? A voice of REASON?
Sheesh, this has been going on forever. Radio stations don't have commercials for other stations!
Yes this leads to biased journalism, but the media has been this way since the old Newspaper Barons.
If they were worried about biased journalism, they most likely wouldn't be reading Slashdot in the first place.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Yay for freaking out for no reason!
... and you only turn it on if you WANT the help!
Here's how the Internet Explorer Smart Tags work: On a PC with Windows XP, when you open any Web page, squiggly purple lines instantly appear under certain types of words. In the version I tested, these browser-generated underlines appear beneath the names of companies, sports teams and colleges. But other types of terms could be highlighted in future versions.
OH NO! IF I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT SOMETHING IS OR WHO SOMEONE IS, IT WILL OFFER ME A HELPFUL LINK TO INFORMATION! GOD FORBID!
In addition, Microsoft says, it will provide a free bit of programming code, called a "meta tag," that site owners could use to bar any Smart Tags from appearing on their sites.
So if you DON'T want them to use it, just stick in a tag. Sounds fair, right? Okay, now read THIS:
Microsoft says the Internet Explorer Smart Tags feature, which is similar to a Smart Tag feature in the new Office XP, will be turned off by default in the final release, and that users will have to consciously choose to enable it by activating a setting buried in the browser's menus.
MS is adding a USEFUL feature which is VOLUNTARY to the user and which can be DISABLED by the creator, and you're bashing them?
... and people wonder why everyone calls Slashdot biased.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Better yet, get a lawyer from your rival university (if one exists). I'm sure they'd be elated to help.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Did anyone really expect Microsoft to start slowing down? They're the biggest and most profitable software company out there. The quality of what they sell is really irrelevant from a business standpoint. What matters is that they know how to sell it, keep selling it, and make large quantities of money from selling it. They do that well. Very well.
How many people here DIDN'T know that Microsoft was going strong?
Honestly, I don't think this article was posted to inform us of anything, or to be interesting. I think the sole reason that this was posted was to see the flames fly at Microsoft. If that's the case, you really need to grow up.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Well of COURSE it's going to be plain. I'm sure they anticipated the flood of SlashDotters going over there to check it out, and with a page as small as that, the bandwidth used will drop dramatically from what it would be if there were a full fledged presentation.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Sure, it's big news that they've admitted to it, but will anything really change? As someone has already noted, this is actually a story from back in April. There has been no outburst so far(except for the Anti-Microsoft-But-I-Don't-Know-Why people who will soon flood this thread).
The world is too dependent on Microsoft, and Microsoft is too good at lying for this to really make any difference. If they did indeed put it in on purpose, all they have to say is that the programmers did it on their own and they had nothing to do with it... and only those programmers had access, so it doesn't really mean much. See how easy that is? Now imagine professional lawyers going over that and making it sound as confusing and convincing as possible.
This is not the end of Microsoft. Not even close. Their attitude about it is probably, "'Eh, whatever. Shit happens." They're still going to continue to rake in the dough, and the world will continue on like nothing has happened.
The only difference is that the Anti-MS crew has more anti-MS ammunition now (not that anyone will really listen to them about it, though.)
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Stores are using software to determine what sales displays work and which don't! THIS IS A TRAVESTY AND MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS!
Yay for the Slashdot Paranoia.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Are you a soccer mom?
Are you not content with distracting yourself from driving your Land Yacht with a plain old cellphone?
Do you hate how you have to miss the current episode of "Days of Our Lives" when you go to pick up little Jimmy from kindergarten?
Fear not! There is a solution to your problems - A retinal display!
...
...
God help us all. The thing is, you KNOW there's going to be people who will do just that.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
The paper is NOT illegal in itself. A perfect analogy would be the instructions on how to make a nuclear bomb. They're not illegal. (IIRC, TIME or some other high profile magazine printed out the instructions in one of their issues). However, if you go out and MAKE a nuclear bomb (easier said than done) and use it, THAT's when it becomes illegal.
This paper is no different from that article. It just provides the framework for being able to make the hard/software (also easier said than done) to circumvent SDMI, and using THAT is what's illegal, NOT the paper itself.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
I don't by any means want to diminish the horrific nature of the acts at Columbine and other such places
WHY are "school shootings" always equated with Columbine? Doesn't everyone realize that school shootings have been going on for YEARS and YEARS?
The only reason they care now is because it's happening to rich white kids.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Yay! One down! Now to build tons more so they'll all launch into space.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Sure the price will be cut in half, but it will still be more money for less performance.
This would be a great time for AMD to get some advertising in. Everyone's heard of a Pentium, many people don't even know who AMD is.
If AMD started running a couple ads showing how much better their chips are than Intels, I'm sure they'd sell quite a few more...
-- Dr. Eldarion --
Of COURSE beta testers didn't like it. How many beta testers (which are primarily geeks) don't know how to use a word processor?
They were aiming for the crowd that doesn't know a thing about what they're doing. All the computer illiterates out there.
Just because you don't like things doesn't mean they're useless.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
If Linux were a beer, you wouldn't be able to play your favorite drinking games with it. Nevertheless, drinking it would give you a false sense of superiority over all the people who don't drink it.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
There's nothing worse than looking forward to a game, beating it, and then...it's over. Talk about your replay value. I wish they would incorporate this idea into more of today's adventure/RPG video games. They did it then...why not now?
A game came out for the PS2 recently called Shadow of Destiny and I think one of the major things they were aiming for in the game was replayability. The game centers around time travel and they wanted you to go back and play again and again to see how the different choices you make affect everything.
Very good game, I highly recommend it. It's one of the main reasons I got a PS2 in the first place.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
I'm glad I got cable
I've been MUCH more satisfied with my cable modem than my friends with their DSL. This just adds another reason to the list.
-- Dr. Eldarion --