I've never seen "seperation of church and state", "right to privacy", "right to their own body", and many other things in there... but they keep appearing. It doesn't matter which side you're on. The "living document" keeps "evolving" new words that we must abide by even if they don't seem to be written there.
You've got to keep a close watch on people. Everyone from atheist to the far religeous right to NAMBLA to the ACLU seem to think The Constiution says they are right. It may, it may not, but they all claim it.
That's why you are supposed to have multiple backups (not that I do). But what are the chances for the average person of losing both the backup and the main drive at the same time?
Like I said, Apple is nice (and I think they should be REQUIRED to let you redownload things by law). But to not have any backup is foolhardy.
I'm aware. I just mentnioned that because at this stage I can't go to any player on the market like I could a few years ago when I had everything in MP3s.
No one backs up. I learned that lesson by losing a HD (with tons of music on it, most all from CDs so it only cost me time). But how is his situation any different than if he ripped the music then the CDs got trashed (thrown out, broken, scratched beyond repair, etc)?
Apple may be nice, but if you pay to download something you're not very smart if you don't keep it backed up. I understand not backing up random e-mails and letters and photos, but if you pay for something you should safeguard it.
And a complete pain. Tell that to someone who has bought say 20-50 CDs worth of music off iTunes (not me, I just have the free album that came with my iPod).
"You can use whatever player you want. All you have to do is waste 50 blank CD-Rs (or a CD-RW)) by copying your music to CD then back. Best of all, after you've wasted all that time, you'll have to waste space by using lower compression just to get it to sound about the same."
The fact is, I'd have a hard time switching off the iPod if I wanted to unless the new player supported AACs. I've got about half my music collection ripped off of CDs into AAC and I would not want to do it again just to switch.
But then again, I'm quite happy with my iPod. I don't think too much of iTMS, but I like having physical property (the CD), not a licence to some bits.
Well it's like the second article mentioned. Viewtiful Joe was a very fun and origonal game. Since it was a success, management decided to make a sequel (not that bad) as well as a fighting game from it (ug) and port them to tons of different platforms (PSP, DS). Doing all that basically went against the mission of Clover to make unique games. They weren't allowed to do what they were told to, to a degree.
PS: Bonus points to the second article for mentioning Shawn of the Dead. It's going to be on Commedy Central soon (if it wasn't last weekend). That's a hilarious movie. Plus the article makes a good point with it about how Clover was given HUGE budgets to make games that would probably never rack up that much in sales.
So what did we (*buffering*) think of the (*buffering*) Dell (*buffering*)....
What a maddening video! I tried to pause it so it could load up (like You Tube, Quicktime, and every other civilized video player) and it wouldn't. It would load up the next second of video then stop buffering. Combine that with their bandwidth problems (thanks, Slashdot) and it's almost impossible to watch the video.
Still. 20"? I though 17 was too large. That thing is huge. And yet they gave it a 9.2. IT'S A FREAKING DESKTOP. As a laptop it should get a 6. Plus, it has two drives in RAID 0. That's an INGENIOUS setup for a LAPTOP.
If they marketed this as a compact, all in one, portable desktop I could see it. But it's not a laptop unless you weight 600 pounds.
It's a good point that that model wouldn't work for GT or other racing games, but it would work well for BioShock, Fear, Quake 4, Doom 3, Pyschonauts, Katamari Damaci, Loco Roco, Sly Cooper, and many other big games.
Hello darkness my old friend,
I've come to hear from you again.
Because a paitent softly weeping,
Wants to know if cancer is creeping.
Is the sound of the cancer coming from her brain?
Will it remain?
As we listen... to the sounds... of cancer.
I've got to say, this is a pretty amazing idea. Plus it would make detecting some cancers an easy part of your yearly physical.
Don't forget that not only will internet connections speed up, but there are other ways around this. Some content is duplicated on the disk to reduce the massive seek time. Plus there is the fact that you don't NEED the full content to play the game. Just download enough for the first level. Once you've got that you let them play. While they are playing level 1 you download the content for levels 2-x. Then you just continue this. Plus many games have a ton of audio on the discs. You can compress it (and movies) much more heavily (without changing the quality) because once the file gets downloaded you can change the compression to something the console can decompress on the fly without too much burder (where as what's on a DVD might have to be decompressed on the fly and played because you can't hold it all in memory or you don't have enough CPU power to decrypt on the fly).
I think one thing is obvious about the next XBox: it won't have an optical drive. I would expect it to just have permenant storage (hard drive, possibly based on future technology) and use an internet conneciton to get games. We are getting close to there right now, so by the time the next XBox comes out in 4-6 years it should be well into prime-time for that. If MS can do as good a job with that as they have done with Live they will have a very nice package (assuming things continue as status quo).
Just because cut-scenes are the most obvious way to use space that's mentioned does not mean that's all that they are being used for. Think of playing a FF game where EVERYONE talks. Every throw away line, not just the important conversation. Also, with all that new geometry (which takes space) you also have all the high-rez textures so things look good when you're NOT 10 feet away.
That's a tangent to the conversation. Blu-ray may end up flopping for movies (I doubt it, but it may).
We are talking about a GAME CONSOLE FORMAT. Your comments don't make much sense in that context. What you are saying is basically...
I bought a Dreamcast from Sega but the GD-ROM format flopped and no movies were released for it.
What does it matter if they are releasing things on Blu-ray, DVD, Hard Drive, HD-DVD, or punch cards? The point of the article is that next-gen games are already taking up 25 gigs so Sony's move to not use DVDs (like MS did) seems like it was a very smart one (on that issue, price could be argued otherwise).
I haven't seen most of these (I'm 23 so I missed the early computer age). I really like the Kaypro ad, and the IBM commercial with "Chaplin" is quite good also. That said, the commercial with the M*A*S*H cast is just a disaster (as the article mentions).
I wonder what a computer commercial by Michele Gondry would be like.
PS: Isn't it weird to see commercial after commercial, year after year, using the same 3 talking points? "Helps your kids in school", "Faster", and "Better value"?
XNA would have been great years ago when I was always trying to make games. I've looked at it and other than the fact it's from MS it looks quite nice. In fact, my biggest complaint is that if you use it to develop for the 360, only other XNA users can play your games (so if you make a game for the 360 and you want your friend to be able to download it and try it, they have to have an XNA subscription too). That limitation seems VERY arbitrary to me. Otherwise it seems quite well done.
But even if you don't think so, at least they are trying to do something. Apple doesn't seem concerned with games at all (based on graphics card choices). Linux doesn't have a central authority who can push something like this. Nintendo keeps their consoles perfectly closed, and while Sony will let you develop in a locked down environment (Net Yahorze, PS2 Linux, PS3 Linux) they don't make it nearly as easy as XNA seems to be (unless that changes for the PS3).
<sarcasm>Yeah, it's not like the PS3 has USB ports.
Just like the PS2 didn't have USB ports.</sarcasm>
Seriously though, while anyone with a brain would use a USB mouse and keyboard, I'd love to see them make a joypad only interface just for the fun of it. I've got to say this whole thing is interesting, although it certainly doesn't make the $600 price tag any easier to swallow.
And that makes perfect sense. I've heard of other cities doing that and putting up electronic signs to warn of accidents and constructions ahead. But that is something useful to people. You can avoid an accident. I don't think 911 information is the same at all. I see no use for it.
I don't quite get it. I can't read the article as the link ends up at a non-existant blog post.
I'll have to start out by saying I'm amazed such information was ever available. I'm just surprised anyone would think to post that for people.
I have to say I'm with the government on this one. Why does anyone need to know exactly where all the 911 calls are coming from in real time? I can understand why such data should be available, but why not give it a 24 hour delay? There are just SO many uses for this data for evil (where you can torch a house, when you can steal something with few cops nearby, where you can go to ambulance chase the most successfully, etc.).
If you have a good reason for needing the data in real time, I see no problem with using a simple free registration to get to it.
I just don't see why this needs to be available to the public in real time.
Frankly, I'd be more worried about other people having it. Not just for the stuff listed above, but for neighbors watching to see if I were to call and other uses like that which I wouldn't be big on. A particularly savvy criminal (or group) could rob houses and track local 911 calls to see when the cops have been tipped off about them so they know when to split.
Or, if you have a restraining order against you, you could watch when the police get called to the house then go in after they leave.
I can't think of any good reason why most people need this live. I can't think of a single one. Businesses, I can think of a few, but private citizens?
Are SSNs of dead people later re-assigned? If not now, is there a guarantee that they won't do that later? With 300 million people alive now and all the people coming into this country and being born here, how long before they have to start recycling them, especially if they want to keep doing the first 3 digits showing where you were born part?
That's right, they explained that in the videos on the origional Guitar Hero. They wanted the real versions but were either turned down flat or the band/artist wanted WAY too much money. That's why they used covers for all songs but the bonus tracks (which were all smaller bands, bands of employees, etc).
Because of the success of Guitar Hero they were able to get the origonals for some songs and that is why some tracks are not covers.
Harmonix didn't have that problem in their previous games (Amplitude and Frequency, both great) because they were made in conjunction with Sony Music and so Sony basically gave them the songs to use (which would be the smart thing to do for a band: free exposure). At least that's what I think was the case.
I've played the demo, and the game is just more of the same.
GREATNESS
It was a blast to have new songs to play, and it's quite clear they aren't letting up on the difficulty. The first time I saw a three fingered cord, it threw me for a loop for a second (although I was expecting them), but I managed to nail it. In a later song in the demo though, a string of 'em weren't so kind to me.
Just under a month left. I can't wait.
And I wonder what the bonus songs will be (there are 15 of them).
Slashdot Mirror
I've never seen "seperation of church and state", "right to privacy", "right to their own body", and many other things in there... but they keep appearing. It doesn't matter which side you're on. The "living document" keeps "evolving" new words that we must abide by even if they don't seem to be written there.
You've got to keep a close watch on people. Everyone from atheist to the far religeous right to NAMBLA to the ACLU seem to think The Constiution says they are right. It may, it may not, but they all claim it.
I'm not going to call it genius or anything, but I did like the movie. I thought it was kind of funny, and it was a great satire. I enjoyed it.
That's why you are supposed to have multiple backups (not that I do). But what are the chances for the average person of losing both the backup and the main drive at the same time?
Like I said, Apple is nice (and I think they should be REQUIRED to let you redownload things by law). But to not have any backup is foolhardy.
I'm aware. I just mentnioned that because at this stage I can't go to any player on the market like I could a few years ago when I had everything in MP3s.
Sorry, Steve Blamer owns that one.
"Stole the car", perhaps?
No one backs up. I learned that lesson by losing a HD (with tons of music on it, most all from CDs so it only cost me time). But how is his situation any different than if he ripped the music then the CDs got trashed (thrown out, broken, scratched beyond repair, etc)?
Apple may be nice, but if you pay to download something you're not very smart if you don't keep it backed up. I understand not backing up random e-mails and letters and photos, but if you pay for something you should safeguard it.
And a complete pain. Tell that to someone who has bought say 20-50 CDs worth of music off iTunes (not me, I just have the free album that came with my iPod).
"You can use whatever player you want. All you have to do is waste 50 blank CD-Rs (or a CD-RW)) by copying your music to CD then back. Best of all, after you've wasted all that time, you'll have to waste space by using lower compression just to get it to sound about the same."
The fact is, I'd have a hard time switching off the iPod if I wanted to unless the new player supported AACs. I've got about half my music collection ripped off of CDs into AAC and I would not want to do it again just to switch.
But then again, I'm quite happy with my iPod. I don't think too much of iTMS, but I like having physical property (the CD), not a licence to some bits.
Well it's like the second article mentioned. Viewtiful Joe was a very fun and origonal game. Since it was a success, management decided to make a sequel (not that bad) as well as a fighting game from it (ug) and port them to tons of different platforms (PSP, DS). Doing all that basically went against the mission of Clover to make unique games. They weren't allowed to do what they were told to, to a degree.
PS: Bonus points to the second article for mentioning Shawn of the Dead. It's going to be on Commedy Central soon (if it wasn't last weekend). That's a hilarious movie. Plus the article makes a good point with it about how Clover was given HUGE budgets to make games that would probably never rack up that much in sales.
What a maddening video! I tried to pause it so it could load up (like You Tube, Quicktime, and every other civilized video player) and it wouldn't. It would load up the next second of video then stop buffering. Combine that with their bandwidth problems (thanks, Slashdot) and it's almost impossible to watch the video.
Still. 20"? I though 17 was too large. That thing is huge. And yet they gave it a 9.2. IT'S A FREAKING DESKTOP. As a laptop it should get a 6. Plus, it has two drives in RAID 0. That's an INGENIOUS setup for a LAPTOP.
If they marketed this as a compact, all in one, portable desktop I could see it. But it's not a laptop unless you weight 600 pounds.
That must be like 5% of the Naruto videos up there.
It's a good point that that model wouldn't work for GT or other racing games, but it would work well for BioShock, Fear, Quake 4, Doom 3, Pyschonauts, Katamari Damaci, Loco Roco, Sly Cooper, and many other big games.
Hello darkness my old friend,
I've come to hear from you again.
Because a paitent softly weeping,
Wants to know if cancer is creeping.
Is the sound of the cancer coming from her brain?
Will it remain?
As we listen... to the sounds... of cancer.
I've got to say, this is a pretty amazing idea. Plus it would make detecting some cancers an easy part of your yearly physical.
Don't forget that not only will internet connections speed up, but there are other ways around this. Some content is duplicated on the disk to reduce the massive seek time. Plus there is the fact that you don't NEED the full content to play the game. Just download enough for the first level. Once you've got that you let them play. While they are playing level 1 you download the content for levels 2-x. Then you just continue this. Plus many games have a ton of audio on the discs. You can compress it (and movies) much more heavily (without changing the quality) because once the file gets downloaded you can change the compression to something the console can decompress on the fly without too much burder (where as what's on a DVD might have to be decompressed on the fly and played because you can't hold it all in memory or you don't have enough CPU power to decrypt on the fly).
I think one thing is obvious about the next XBox: it won't have an optical drive. I would expect it to just have permenant storage (hard drive, possibly based on future technology) and use an internet conneciton to get games. We are getting close to there right now, so by the time the next XBox comes out in 4-6 years it should be well into prime-time for that. If MS can do as good a job with that as they have done with Live they will have a very nice package (assuming things continue as status quo).
Just because cut-scenes are the most obvious way to use space that's mentioned does not mean that's all that they are being used for. Think of playing a FF game where EVERYONE talks. Every throw away line, not just the important conversation. Also, with all that new geometry (which takes space) you also have all the high-rez textures so things look good when you're NOT 10 feet away.
That's a tangent to the conversation. Blu-ray may end up flopping for movies (I doubt it, but it may).
We are talking about a GAME CONSOLE FORMAT. Your comments don't make much sense in that context. What you are saying is basically...
What does it matter if they are releasing things on Blu-ray, DVD, Hard Drive, HD-DVD, or punch cards? The point of the article is that next-gen games are already taking up 25 gigs so Sony's move to not use DVDs (like MS did) seems like it was a very smart one (on that issue, price could be argued otherwise).
I haven't seen most of these (I'm 23 so I missed the early computer age). I really like the Kaypro ad, and the IBM commercial with "Chaplin" is quite good also. That said, the commercial with the M*A*S*H cast is just a disaster (as the article mentions).
I wonder what a computer commercial by Michele Gondry would be like.
PS: Isn't it weird to see commercial after commercial, year after year, using the same 3 talking points? "Helps your kids in school", "Faster", and "Better value"?
XNA would have been great years ago when I was always trying to make games. I've looked at it and other than the fact it's from MS it looks quite nice. In fact, my biggest complaint is that if you use it to develop for the 360, only other XNA users can play your games (so if you make a game for the 360 and you want your friend to be able to download it and try it, they have to have an XNA subscription too). That limitation seems VERY arbitrary to me. Otherwise it seems quite well done.
But even if you don't think so, at least they are trying to do something. Apple doesn't seem concerned with games at all (based on graphics card choices). Linux doesn't have a central authority who can push something like this. Nintendo keeps their consoles perfectly closed, and while Sony will let you develop in a locked down environment (Net Yahorze, PS2 Linux, PS3 Linux) they don't make it nearly as easy as XNA seems to be (unless that changes for the PS3).
Gotta give MS some kudos.
<sarcasm>Yeah, it's not like the PS3 has USB ports.
Just like the PS2 didn't have USB ports.</sarcasm>
Seriously though, while anyone with a brain would use a USB mouse and keyboard, I'd love to see them make a joypad only interface just for the fun of it. I've got to say this whole thing is interesting, although it certainly doesn't make the $600 price tag any easier to swallow.
I'd prefer neither had it, but if only known businesses could get the live data that would be less risky than letting everyone have it.
And that makes perfect sense. I've heard of other cities doing that and putting up electronic signs to warn of accidents and constructions ahead. But that is something useful to people. You can avoid an accident. I don't think 911 information is the same at all. I see no use for it.
I don't quite get it. I can't read the article as the link ends up at a non-existant blog post.
I'll have to start out by saying I'm amazed such information was ever available. I'm just surprised anyone would think to post that for people.
I have to say I'm with the government on this one. Why does anyone need to know exactly where all the 911 calls are coming from in real time? I can understand why such data should be available, but why not give it a 24 hour delay? There are just SO many uses for this data for evil (where you can torch a house, when you can steal something with few cops nearby, where you can go to ambulance chase the most successfully, etc.).
If you have a good reason for needing the data in real time, I see no problem with using a simple free registration to get to it.
I just don't see why this needs to be available to the public in real time.
Frankly, I'd be more worried about other people having it. Not just for the stuff listed above, but for neighbors watching to see if I were to call and other uses like that which I wouldn't be big on. A particularly savvy criminal (or group) could rob houses and track local 911 calls to see when the cops have been tipped off about them so they know when to split.
Or, if you have a restraining order against you, you could watch when the police get called to the house then go in after they leave.
I can't think of any good reason why most people need this live. I can't think of a single one. Businesses, I can think of a few, but private citizens?
Are SSNs of dead people later re-assigned? If not now, is there a guarantee that they won't do that later? With 300 million people alive now and all the people coming into this country and being born here, how long before they have to start recycling them, especially if they want to keep doing the first 3 digits showing where you were born part?
That's right, they explained that in the videos on the origional Guitar Hero. They wanted the real versions but were either turned down flat or the band/artist wanted WAY too much money. That's why they used covers for all songs but the bonus tracks (which were all smaller bands, bands of employees, etc).
Because of the success of Guitar Hero they were able to get the origonals for some songs and that is why some tracks are not covers.
Harmonix didn't have that problem in their previous games (Amplitude and Frequency, both great) because they were made in conjunction with Sony Music and so Sony basically gave them the songs to use (which would be the smart thing to do for a band: free exposure). At least that's what I think was the case.
I've played the demo, and the game is just more of the same.
GREATNESS
It was a blast to have new songs to play, and it's quite clear they aren't letting up on the difficulty. The first time I saw a three fingered cord, it threw me for a loop for a second (although I was expecting them), but I managed to nail it. In a later song in the demo though, a string of 'em weren't so kind to me.
Just under a month left. I can't wait.
And I wonder what the bonus songs will be (there are 15 of them).