Read your own link. It says "the PlayStation 2 is 'not freely programmable' it is not classed as a computer and therefore falls under the 9504 code." It says nothing about the "customs fees" going away, just that the PS2 lost the exemption. The PS3, however, is apparently capable of booting and installing a CD-R/DVD-R of Linux, with nothing locked out but the RSX chip. And this is without a special startup disc like the PS2 Linux needed, so every unit out there is capable of this.
That being said, and even though I usually am not too impressed by what Microsoft does, I have to agree with the title of this/. article. All the PS3 has is bootable Linux, but what Microsoft has is apparently a good library for programming games. Of course, in typical Microsoft "lock-in, lock-out" style, it only works under Windows and the Xbox 360, and right now doesn't let you run games on the 360 without a developer subscription, but it apparently has what programmers need, rather than being a toy for tinkerers to say "OMFG LINZX ON PES3EE!"
This is how a company should react when they screw up.
This isn't the first time they've done such a thing, nor the biggest. The Famicom recall of 1983 set a precedent, after which Microsoft's failure to promptly recall the Xbox when it had launch problems probably was what really cost themthe Japanese market. After that, recalling a bunch of piddly wrist straps that cost more to ship than they do to manufacture is nothing.
And in fact, this is how Japanese businesses typically behave in the Japanese market. Taking responsibility, sometimes more than they deserve blame for, and making it right, even if it means the president of the company has to go from Okinawa to Hokkaido and personally ring doorbells and apologize to everyone who was wronged.
What I want to know is, when will the ice in the antarctic melt?
I've heard that even though it is calving a lot of icebergs these days, it's getting enough snowfall that the total ice in the antartic is actually increasing. It's just increasing in a different place than the icebergs are coming from.
Besides, once you melt the ice there isn't much land left, and it's not very good real estate. But at least there is land under all that ice and snow, unlike in the arctic.
GBA is the sweet spot - powerful enough to code in C/C++, but weak enough that a team of a couple people can max out the power of the system.
I'd say Sega Genesis is a sweet spot, too. 68K, large address space (4 megabytes in a cartridge with no bank switching), good C compilers (people have supposedly used MPW C with it), decent graphics/sprite support, less colors than SNES, but still a decent selection, and the original Sega documentation is out there. You won't be doing 3D on it, but it's a darn good 2D system. Used consoles are easy to find, cartridges are relatively easy to make, and it's supported for Wii download games.
The Sega CD, on the other hand, is extremely under-documented (just try finding out about its BIOS calls--there are only about a dozen basic ones I've found references to), and it requires synchronizing two CPUs running at different speeds, in addition to having to swap parts of the game in and out all the time. And it's hard enough to fill up 4 megabytes without getting a couple of artists and musicians, but 650 megabytes is really hard to fill without cramming in FMV or CD audio.
I have a PPC mac and it is great to have a native working WMV9/VC-1 codec.
Wow! Look at those pigs flying out of a frozen-over hell!
Now I can finally play those WMV9/AAC Japanese TV rips without playing codec-war games. If they managed to get the softsub driver to be even somewhat useful, then it will have been worth the wait. VLC was notorious for how badly it rendered softsubs.
Your failure to comprehend scientific consensus has no effect on the accuracy of the findings, nor on the continuing refinement of the data models, which, after all, is what this story is reporting about.
And yet, as a Mac user I can manage to do it! My 3-year-old iBook has always woken from sleep in approximately one second. Six seconds -- let alone ten -- would be unbearably long in comparison.
That is why I immediately switched to OS X back in the Public Beta days. MacOS 9 would take forever (like 8-10 seconds or so) to wake from sleep. I think it was something going on in Open Transport, FWIW. The instant wakeup was that much of a difference that I didn't care that it didn't properly sleep all the hardware on my Pismo (sleep mode was a lot more power-hungry than on MacOS 9 until a while into 10.0.x or even 10.1, IIRC)
The first thing I will do when I get one is to have it take over the function of my current Linux box and run my web page off of it.
So what happens to your web page when you want to play GTA4 or FFXVIII? Or were you planning to play nothing but nethack, Tux Racer, and sokoban?
Once you get past the geek factor, there's really no point in using a PS3 as a server when you could use a cheap PC with a fanless CPU instead. If your web page really NEEDS that space-heater Athlon XP, then it probably uses enough bandwidth to a hosting facility too. Plus, you could put in more than 256M RAM, which Apache would appreciate much more than a Cell CPU. My own web site runs just fine on a 7 year old 350MHz G3 with 1G RAM. About $100-$150 including RAM is a lot cheaper than an almost unobtainable (and should remain so at least until March) $500+ PS3. You could also get a used G4 Mac mini cheaper than a PS3, and it's smaller, too. And whatever form of "real" computer you get, you can still run games while it's doing something else.
The point is that if they can claim that it is a "computer", there are much lower import taxes for selling it in Europe. That's why they had a PS2 Linux too, and I think I can vaguely recall hearing about some sort of BASIC for the PS1. The difference is that this one doesn't seem to require a disk that can go out of print on Sony's whim.
Try getting a $200 tuner (they'll go down eventually) for your $200 TV and you'll find out that all the "pixelated content" is just your cable company being cheap by recompressing things to a lower bandwidth.
In other words, the EU is against monopolies and large companies locking customers in their line of products and services. Is that so hard to understand?
Great. When are they going to do something about DeBeers, then?
Actually, from what I've heard, more like $750 or so. Maybe $1000-$1500 tops if you're really lucky. I'm not sure where he got that extra zero from. Sure, there have been $5000 bids ending PS3 auctions, but look at the bidders: feedback ratings of zero and negative. You'll get stiffed with closing fees and will have to file an NPB and re-list. Some say the bogus bidders are people with their own PS3 to sell trying to screw their competition, others say the bogus bidders are just trying to enforce a little karma on them for scalping a PS3 in the first place.
This was linked into the most recent thread at thedailywtf, and having just now finished reading it, it obviously deserves to be linked here as well to increase your own morning "gotta read this" time: unix horror stories
Slashdot Mirror
Read your own link. It says "the PlayStation 2 is 'not freely programmable' it is not classed as a computer and therefore falls under the 9504 code." It says nothing about the "customs fees" going away, just that the PS2 lost the exemption. The PS3, however, is apparently capable of booting and installing a CD-R/DVD-R of Linux, with nothing locked out but the RSX chip. And this is without a special startup disc like the PS2 Linux needed, so every unit out there is capable of this.
That being said, and even though I usually am not too impressed by what Microsoft does, I have to agree with the title of this /. article. All the PS3 has is bootable Linux, but what Microsoft has is apparently a good library for programming games. Of course, in typical Microsoft "lock-in, lock-out" style, it only works under Windows and the Xbox 360, and right now doesn't let you run games on the 360 without a developer subscription, but it apparently has what programmers need, rather than being a toy for tinkerers to say "OMFG LINZX ON PES3EE!"
This isn't the first time they've done such a thing, nor the biggest. The Famicom recall of 1983 set a precedent, after which Microsoft's failure to promptly recall the Xbox when it had launch problems probably was what really cost themthe Japanese market. After that, recalling a bunch of piddly wrist straps that cost more to ship than they do to manufacture is nothing.
And in fact, this is how Japanese businesses typically behave in the Japanese market. Taking responsibility, sometimes more than they deserve blame for, and making it right, even if it means the president of the company has to go from Okinawa to Hokkaido and personally ring doorbells and apologize to everyone who was wronged.
Have YOU tried it? Because as long as you don't have an Intel CPU, it runs just fine under Classic.
...people with no arms want the right to go fishing with dynamite, so that they can use their puffer straw.
I've heard that even though it is calving a lot of icebergs these days, it's getting enough snowfall that the total ice in the antartic is actually increasing. It's just increasing in a different place than the icebergs are coming from.
Besides, once you melt the ice there isn't much land left, and it's not very good real estate. But at least there is land under all that ice and snow, unlike in the arctic.
I'd say Sega Genesis is a sweet spot, too. 68K, large address space (4 megabytes in a cartridge with no bank switching), good C compilers (people have supposedly used MPW C with it), decent graphics/sprite support, less colors than SNES, but still a decent selection, and the original Sega documentation is out there. You won't be doing 3D on it, but it's a darn good 2D system. Used consoles are easy to find, cartridges are relatively easy to make, and it's supported for Wii download games.
The Sega CD, on the other hand, is extremely under-documented (just try finding out about its BIOS calls--there are only about a dozen basic ones I've found references to), and it requires synchronizing two CPUs running at different speeds, in addition to having to swap parts of the game in and out all the time. And it's hard enough to fill up 4 megabytes without getting a couple of artists and musicians, but 650 megabytes is really hard to fill without cramming in FMV or CD audio.
Wow! Look at those pigs flying out of a frozen-over hell!
Now I can finally play those WMV9/AAC Japanese TV rips without playing codec-war games. If they managed to get the softsub driver to be even somewhat useful, then it will have been worth the wait. VLC was notorious for how badly it rendered softsubs.
There is no such thing as "scientific concensus".
That's like saying the H3 is the most fuel-efficient Hummer to date.
No, wait, actually it's really more like saying that a particular spaghetti strainer is the least leaky to date.
That is why I immediately switched to OS X back in the Public Beta days. MacOS 9 would take forever (like 8-10 seconds or so) to wake from sleep. I think it was something going on in Open Transport, FWIW. The instant wakeup was that much of a difference that I didn't care that it didn't properly sleep all the hardware on my Pismo (sleep mode was a lot more power-hungry than on MacOS 9 until a while into 10.0.x or even 10.1, IIRC)
So what happens to your web page when you want to play GTA4 or FFXVIII? Or were you planning to play nothing but nethack, Tux Racer, and sokoban?
Once you get past the geek factor, there's really no point in using a PS3 as a server when you could use a cheap PC with a fanless CPU instead. If your web page really NEEDS that space-heater Athlon XP, then it probably uses enough bandwidth to a hosting facility too. Plus, you could put in more than 256M RAM, which Apache would appreciate much more than a Cell CPU. My own web site runs just fine on a 7 year old 350MHz G3 with 1G RAM. About $100-$150 including RAM is a lot cheaper than an almost unobtainable (and should remain so at least until March) $500+ PS3. You could also get a used G4 Mac mini cheaper than a PS3, and it's smaller, too. And whatever form of "real" computer you get, you can still run games while it's doing something else.
But can it play those games while you're using it as a "Cell Based server"? Dual-boot seems cool... until you want to run a server.
The point is that if they can claim that it is a "computer", there are much lower import taxes for selling it in Europe. That's why they had a PS2 Linux too, and I think I can vaguely recall hearing about some sort of BASIC for the PS1. The difference is that this one doesn't seem to require a disk that can go out of print on Sony's whim.
Obligatory Penny Arcade reference
You can, but it smells like farts.
At least it's not the pro air that costs $1000 a bottle. That stuff is oxygen-free.
Try getting a $200 tuner (they'll go down eventually) for your $200 TV and you'll find out that all the "pixelated content" is just your cable company being cheap by recompressing things to a lower bandwidth.
That's nice, but the correct answer is "Don't you mean 2N2222?"
I buy only the very best MONSTER Cat5 cable. Otherwise, my tubes go slow. =(
Can I get Monster Air for my WiFi?
Wow, Lear Siegler sure has come a long way since the ADM3A!
Serously, unless it's a well known TLA company like AMD or IBM, a few words about the company itself would be nice.
In other words, the EU is against monopolies and large companies locking customers in their line of products and services. Is that so hard to understand?
Great. When are they going to do something about DeBeers, then?
Actually, from what I've heard, more like $750 or so. Maybe $1000-$1500 tops if you're really lucky. I'm not sure where he got that extra zero from. Sure, there have been $5000 bids ending PS3 auctions, but look at the bidders: feedback ratings of zero and negative. You'll get stiffed with closing fees and will have to file an NPB and re-list. Some say the bogus bidders are people with their own PS3 to sell trying to screw their competition, others say the bogus bidders are just trying to enforce a little karma on them for scalping a PS3 in the first place.
Can saving the world wait until they save the got-damn cheerleader first? It's been like five episodes already and I'm sick of that catch phrase!
(yeah, I probably mangled both of these, but I only watched it once...)
How can you kill one that has... no life?
Mom! Bathroom! Mom! Bathroom!
click "reply" to add your own!
This was linked into the most recent thread at thedailywtf, and having just now finished reading it, it obviously deserves to be linked here as well to increase your own morning "gotta read this" time: unix horror stories
And never forget to mount your scratch monkey...
Ballmer wants to be Steve Irwin?
STINGRAYS! STINGRAYS! STINGRAYS! STINGRAYS! STINGRAYS! STINGRAYS! STINGRAYS!
P.S. Steve Ballmer is not compatible with the lameness filter.