I was more impressed with how the translator also magically made a person's mouth appear to speak in the translated language, instead of looking like a dubbed film all the time.
Something tells me that if I tether my cell phone to my laptop and let it run continuously for a month, that a rep from my cell phone company will call to tell me that the "Unlimited Data Plan" is not really Unlimited when put to the test. I'm sure the same goes if I were to place a call and leave it up like some kind of intercom.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just a feeling that cell phone technology is somewhat self limiting in the "unlimited" space. People just aren't in too many situations where it will happen.
Of course, that data scenario probably does happen on occasion with road warriors.
I had a Eurocom machine as a hand-me-down from an Executive that left the company. It certainly was a rock star for performance at the time, and yes, it was heavy and the battery life was terrible. The real issue for me was the fan noise. It sounded like a 747 when it cranked up.
I believe someone in our Engineering group has it sitting in a data center as a test machine since you can't hear it.
I felt compelled to get the list off MSDN just to know for sure. Looks like there's also a K, not just an N, and they are for both Pro and Home. I removed the Service Pack, SDK, and other non-OS downloads. It's less than 50, but not by much...
Windows XP 64-bit Edition Version 2003 (English)
Windows XP Embedded with SP2 - Evaluation Version (English)
Windows XP Home Edition (English) - ISO CD Image
Windows XP Home Edition N (English)
Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (English)
Windows XP Home K with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Home KN with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Home N with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 Update (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - CD1 (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - CD2 (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition CD1 - Checked/Debug (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition CD1 (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition CD2 (English)
Windows XP Professional (English)
Windows XP Professional (VL) ISO CD Image (English)
Windows XP Professional K with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional KN with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional N - VL (English)
Windows XP Professional N - VL with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional N (English)
Windows XP Professional N with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2- VL (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 - VL (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - Checked/Debug (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - VL (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with SP2 - VL (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (English) - CD1
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (English) - CD2
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 CD 1 - VL (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 CD 2 - VL (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD1 (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD1 (English) - VL
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD2 (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD2 (English) - VL
I somehow got roped into the Microsoft Partner Research Panel. It's essentially a mailing list with highly detailed surveys about their products. I figured this ended up in some statistics that are eventually bleached and skewed in their Executive Reports, but heck, it's worth it for the possibility that I might a little bit of my opinion voiced.
Yesterday they sent one out that asked very pointed questions about XP, Vista, 7, 98/ME/2009, Linux, and Mac OS. Things like "On a scale of 1 to 9, rate how likely you are to develop solutions on one of these platforms".
They included questions about likely we would be to upgrade systems to Vista if 7 were released soon (Yup, I answered "Extremely Unlikely"). There were also focused questions on the versions available and if it was more/less confusing. I specifically wrote a comment on how the multiple versions serve as an obstacle.
I wonder when this starts to eat into real profit. I mean, if they have to un-bundle IE for European distribution, they just multiplied their versions by at least 2. Checking MSDN, there are a huge number of flavors for XP when you also add in the 32/64 bit, Embedded, Media, Tablet, Volume License, and other types beyond Home and Pro. At least 50. Yup, 50! And that's XP!
That's a great marketing perk if nothing else. Why deny the claim when you can easily say "No Comment" and leave the world speculating. Positive spin like that is golden.
I understand and agree with the analysis made by the author, but it seems to be based on the idea that the enjoyment comes from the discovery within the game. The first time someone plays a game, it's a new experience. After that, they learn the topology and it comes down to refining your ability to reflexively work through the game. I believe the rise of multiplayer gaming has in part driven more people into games since it's a slightly new experience every time you log on. Sure, you can learn the map and objective, but you never know quite what you'll get.
I can only think of one title in Video Game History that had both dynamic maps and interactive elements that were different every time: Larn. It's a 20 year old DOS title that used nothing but ASCII characters. But hey, it rocked since it was new every time.
Can you imagine what a typical shooting game would be like if the enemies were moved around on the map every time? How about a driving game where the road was always different?
I use a false name, and I don't post anything that can easily identify me. If I want a friend to associate with me, I let them know what to look for.
Now I get the mundane details of everyone's life, such as "Getting a haircut, yea!" on the rare occasions I check it. At least people can't bug me to be on it anymore.
True. I've even seen Thinclients running embedded Windows get infected. Management had been fed a line that "thinclients can't get infected because there's no hard drive" as a major selling point. They were really surprised by the pricetag for a mountain of usb memory sticks with OS updates, and the third party labor to make lots of roadtrips.
That's exactly what I thought. It would take a serious amount of work to improve the resolution by hand.
I have to assume that the "original" was actually a poor resolution copy they were able to get their hands on later, not the actual original. Otherwise, I want to hire the guy who can retouch pictures to that degree of accuracy and clarity!
I gave this a try with Call of Duty 4. After installing it to the HD the most noticeable difference was not with performance, but that the jet engine noise of the DVD reader was gone.
That improvement alone is worth it for me. Has anyone tried installing GTA4 to the HD? That's a game that might have a significant improvement in performance.
I've been through the same checkpoint, and I'm white. They spent about 10 minutes looking around the car and in the trunk. It was a rent car since I was there on business, so it was immaculate, but they took their time anyway checking the vehicle and my documents.
It really was annoying. I can't imagine doing it on a regular basis, even if this only happens at random intervals. Now that I think about it, random intervals would be even more annoying.
I've actually seen Telepresence in action. A set of three 1080p monitors, multiple cameras, mics, and a high-end sound system all built into a custom designed room. The result: a freekishly interactive experience. People actually seem to be sitting on the other side of a table across from you.
If you have overpriced executives that are traveling all the time, it doesn't take long to figure out how much you save in both direct travel costs and indirect salary waste.
Oh the cost of that system: $300k per room. Even at that rate, we were able to justify at least a break even.
Distribute the servers in conspicuous places around the office, with your Bosses office as the home of the most loud and obnoxious machines.
This won't solve your cooling problem, but it might solve your budget issue if you don't get fired.
Re:This is stupid
on
Growing Boy
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Mod Parent Up. I've seen a lot of negativity posted about idle on other threads. I tried to refrain from joining popular opinion without first at least giving it a try, but it's obvious that most of the items posted here are obnoxious at best.
Sorry/. but this is a failed experiment.
I've got some karma to burn, but something tells me that I won't find too many moderators wearing "idle.slashdot.org" t-shirts.
As funny as the comment is, it's probably the perfect way to scientifically test the theory. You can put magnets on one field and not another. Move the herd back and forth under usual circumstances (like for grazing) and track them. If they orient differently, THEN you can prove something.
I'm certain that's true for some of the ultra high end exotics, but most vehicles aren't that elite. Take the Audi S8 for example. That's a pretty rare automobile, luxurious, and fast. The base price is about $75k. An "I'm Feeling Lucky" Google search found that it would be average to shed about $24k after the first year. Sure, it's hardly a comprehensive analysis, but I'm betting this is more the norm than the exception.
So reconsidering the analogy to the high end PC market, would you expect to find any rock-star Pentium II rigs that would still fetch the same price as the build cost? Even with the Voodoo graphics card and stickers from the local internet startup companies?
There are a LOT of people out there willing to shell out vast sums of money on things that will evaporate in value. Just take a look at the entire luxury and exotic car segments. Everyone knows that cars drop 20% per year in value, but they keep rolling off the line.
Admit it, if you had US $10k lying around with nothing better to do, you would be salivating over the FedEx Next Day Tracking Number. I know I would.
Slashdot Mirror
I was more impressed with how the translator also magically made a person's mouth appear to speak in the translated language, instead of looking like a dubbed film all the time.
What if that happens to be your home?
I know IBM must employ a lot of workers on visas. Are they targeting that group?
Something tells me that if I tether my cell phone to my laptop and let it run continuously for a month, that a rep from my cell phone company will call to tell me that the "Unlimited Data Plan" is not really Unlimited when put to the test. I'm sure the same goes if I were to place a call and leave it up like some kind of intercom.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just a feeling that cell phone technology is somewhat self limiting in the "unlimited" space. People just aren't in too many situations where it will happen.
Of course, that data scenario probably does happen on occasion with road warriors.
I had a Eurocom machine as a hand-me-down from an Executive that left the company. It certainly was a rock star for performance at the time, and yes, it was heavy and the battery life was terrible. The real issue for me was the fan noise. It sounded like a 747 when it cranked up.
I believe someone in our Engineering group has it sitting in a data center as a test machine since you can't hear it.
Windows XP 64-bit Edition Version 2003 (English)
Windows XP Embedded with SP2 - Evaluation Version (English)
Windows XP Home Edition (English) - ISO CD Image
Windows XP Home Edition N (English)
Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (English)
Windows XP Home K with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Home KN with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Home N with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 Update (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - CD1 (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - CD2 (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition CD1 - Checked/Debug (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition CD1 (English)
Windows XP Media Center Edition CD2 (English)
Windows XP Professional (English)
Windows XP Professional (VL) ISO CD Image (English)
Windows XP Professional K with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional KN with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional N - VL (English)
Windows XP Professional N - VL with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional N (English)
Windows XP Professional N with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2- VL (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 - VL (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - Checked/Debug (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - VL (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (English)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with SP2 - VL (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (English) - CD1
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (English) - CD2
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 CD 1 - VL (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 CD 2 - VL (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD1 (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD1 (English) - VL
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD2 (English)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CD2 (English) - VL
I somehow got roped into the Microsoft Partner Research Panel. It's essentially a mailing list with highly detailed surveys about their products. I figured this ended up in some statistics that are eventually bleached and skewed in their Executive Reports, but heck, it's worth it for the possibility that I might a little bit of my opinion voiced.
Yesterday they sent one out that asked very pointed questions about XP, Vista, 7, 98/ME/2009, Linux, and Mac OS. Things like "On a scale of 1 to 9, rate how likely you are to develop solutions on one of these platforms".
They included questions about likely we would be to upgrade systems to Vista if 7 were released soon (Yup, I answered "Extremely Unlikely"). There were also focused questions on the versions available and if it was more/less confusing. I specifically wrote a comment on how the multiple versions serve as an obstacle.
I wonder when this starts to eat into real profit. I mean, if they have to un-bundle IE for European distribution, they just multiplied their versions by at least 2. Checking MSDN, there are a huge number of flavors for XP when you also add in the 32/64 bit, Embedded, Media, Tablet, Volume License, and other types beyond Home and Pro. At least 50. Yup, 50! And that's XP!
That's a great marketing perk if nothing else. Why deny the claim when you can easily say "No Comment" and leave the world speculating. Positive spin like that is golden.
No matter how safe it is, I'm betting this will be the largest "Not In My Back Yard" example ever put forth in American History.
Doh! :)
I wonder why this methodology hasn't made it into the more popular titles...
How about predictability?
I understand and agree with the analysis made by the author, but it seems to be based on the idea that the enjoyment comes from the discovery within the game. The first time someone plays a game, it's a new experience. After that, they learn the topology and it comes down to refining your ability to reflexively work through the game. I believe the rise of multiplayer gaming has in part driven more people into games since it's a slightly new experience every time you log on. Sure, you can learn the map and objective, but you never know quite what you'll get.
I can only think of one title in Video Game History that had both dynamic maps and interactive elements that were different every time: Larn. It's a 20 year old DOS title that used nothing but ASCII characters. But hey, it rocked since it was new every time.
Can you imagine what a typical shooting game would be like if the enemies were moved around on the map every time? How about a driving game where the road was always different?
I use a false name, and I don't post anything that can easily identify me. If I want a friend to associate with me, I let them know what to look for.
Now I get the mundane details of everyone's life, such as "Getting a haircut, yea!" on the rare occasions I check it. At least people can't bug me to be on it anymore.
Wow. I think I let a little pee out when I laughed at that.
I believe the system will automatically give the first post a -1, specifically because of the people that normally put junk in there.
True. I've even seen Thinclients running embedded Windows get infected. Management had been fed a line that "thinclients can't get infected because there's no hard drive" as a major selling point. They were really surprised by the pricetag for a mountain of usb memory sticks with OS updates, and the third party labor to make lots of roadtrips.
I think the nerds are gonna have to start taking a lot more 'roids.
That's exactly what I thought. It would take a serious amount of work to improve the resolution by hand.
I have to assume that the "original" was actually a poor resolution copy they were able to get their hands on later, not the actual original. Otherwise, I want to hire the guy who can retouch pictures to that degree of accuracy and clarity!
I gave this a try with Call of Duty 4. After installing it to the HD the most noticeable difference was not with performance, but that the jet engine noise of the DVD reader was gone.
That improvement alone is worth it for me. Has anyone tried installing GTA4 to the HD? That's a game that might have a significant improvement in performance.
I've been through the same checkpoint, and I'm white. They spent about 10 minutes looking around the car and in the trunk. It was a rent car since I was there on business, so it was immaculate, but they took their time anyway checking the vehicle and my documents.
It really was annoying. I can't imagine doing it on a regular basis, even if this only happens at random intervals. Now that I think about it, random intervals would be even more annoying.
I've actually seen Telepresence in action. A set of three 1080p monitors, multiple cameras, mics, and a high-end sound system all built into a custom designed room. The result: a freekishly interactive experience. People actually seem to be sitting on the other side of a table across from you.
If you have overpriced executives that are traveling all the time, it doesn't take long to figure out how much you save in both direct travel costs and indirect salary waste.
Oh the cost of that system: $300k per room. Even at that rate, we were able to justify at least a break even.
I believe Microsoft is going to need a Butt Patch after this.
Distribute the servers in conspicuous places around the office, with your Bosses office as the home of the most loud and obnoxious machines.
This won't solve your cooling problem, but it might solve your budget issue if you don't get fired.
Mod Parent Up. I've seen a lot of negativity posted about idle on other threads. I tried to refrain from joining popular opinion without first at least giving it a try, but it's obvious that most of the items posted here are obnoxious at best.
/. but this is a failed experiment.
Sorry
I've got some karma to burn, but something tells me that I won't find too many moderators wearing "idle.slashdot.org" t-shirts.
As funny as the comment is, it's probably the perfect way to scientifically test the theory. You can put magnets on one field and not another. Move the herd back and forth under usual circumstances (like for grazing) and track them. If they orient differently, THEN you can prove something.
I'm certain that's true for some of the ultra high end exotics, but most vehicles aren't that elite. Take the Audi S8 for example. That's a pretty rare automobile, luxurious, and fast. The base price is about $75k. An "I'm Feeling Lucky" Google search found that it would be average to shed about $24k after the first year. Sure, it's hardly a comprehensive analysis, but I'm betting this is more the norm than the exception.
So reconsidering the analogy to the high end PC market, would you expect to find any rock-star Pentium II rigs that would still fetch the same price as the build cost? Even with the Voodoo graphics card and stickers from the local internet startup companies?
And for the record, I would STILL buy the S8.
There are a LOT of people out there willing to shell out vast sums of money on things that will evaporate in value. Just take a look at the entire luxury and exotic car segments. Everyone knows that cars drop 20% per year in value, but they keep rolling off the line.
Admit it, if you had US $10k lying around with nothing better to do, you would be salivating over the FedEx Next Day Tracking Number. I know I would.