But... MS is one of the largest employers in the state. Their employees are highly paid. Those employees spend money, buy expensive houses, etc. Microsoft builds buildings, buys land, and supports the arts and such. And lets not forget all the computers and software that they donate/discout for the state and it's schools.
Washington state will not piss off Microsoft. It is a fact. When those state AGs sued because they didn't like the settlement the DOJ did with Microsoft, was the Washington State AG among them? Why do you think that was?
MS is behind this law because if it works, it removes some (much?) of their responsibility (and also codifies in law that spyware is the programmer's fault, and doesn't specify it to be MS's fault). If the law said that, do you think it would have gotten a vote, let alone pass?
Things like this happen. At least it is a win for the consumer if it works, even if MS still isn't held accountable. All us geeks can do is answer questions from friends truthfully. "What's with/causes/why is there so much spyware?"... "Microsoft." Grass roots will work, we just need it to be organized. But then again we need to do that with lots of things (accepting buggy software, the release-then-patch mantra, overpriced software, etc.)
There are pictures and some facts here. The thing that is the most interesting is the last fact:
Freedom of design: A dynamic development architecture equally accommodates both big-budget, high-profile game "masterpieces" as well as indie games conceived by individual developers equipped with only a big idea.
Does this mean that Nintendo will let us mess with it? I would love to be able to program it. Not only would that increase sales, it would foster talent and good will towards Nintendo. Considering how large the GB/GBA development community is, I would think that would be a good thing. Also, the devices that people use to develop for the GBA Nintendo is always fighting because they can be used for piracy. But if you could develop from the get-go (or maybe with a $50 or $100 kit) people wouldn't need to reverse engineer things to run their own code.
Will Nintendo do it? I kinda doubt it, but I would really love it if they did.
Either way, if it makes it easier to make good games without needing huge teams of programmers to endlessly tinker to get decent performace, it could still be a very good thing.
On a side note though, the Zelda screens don't look as good as many of the PS3/X360 screens. Let's hope there is better to come (based on how much better the GC got though, it should still be great).
Didn't know that, I haven't followed that close. I still doubt I'll use it (I have an Airport Express that I already use for that), but it's good that they did that. Without my Airport Express I would be likely to use it.
Now if they can only make it so I can use it for video...
I follow gaming quite a bit, and here is what I have to say on all this.
First is the "media center" idea of the XBox 360. Good luck. You'll need it. I have a DVD player. Everyone does. In fact, I have many (computer, PS2, etc.). But the feature is nearly free, so I don't blame them for including it. Sony will do better in that regard because their machine will play Blu-Ray discs. But as for the rest of it, they are going to have a hard time getting me to use it for anything but games. Play music? Why should I rerip all my CDs? And even if they were in MP3 (they are in AAC), I bet I couldn't just copy them over to the X-Box 360, I'd have to re-rip them. I'm not going to do that. Unless I can stream them to the machine, I won't use that part. I won't play DVDs on it (already covered that). Now playing video would be nice if I could stream if off my computer (a Mac). But my guess is that you can only do that from a Windows Media Center eddition computer, which doesn't help me. They can put all the media features they want, it doesn't matter to me, I'll only be buying it for the games. I don't care about videoconfrencing, VOIP chat, or editing home movies (or anything else they come up with). It is a console, and while it is nice they will pack on all those features, I don't think it will make any real difference in sales.
The thing that WILL make a difference (in my mind) is the micropayments thing they are talking about. I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of paying $1 so my character can wear a shirt that they sell at Old Navy sounds like one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. I will not be buying virtual shirts. I will not be paying money to unlock content on the disc. I refuse to pay to buy pointless items. I don't care if everyone who plays the game online gets a bright pink shirt with the word "Luzer" on it unless they buy another one, I'm not doing it. Go milk someone else for money, that idea will fail. And based on other industries (I'm looking at you cell phone companies), I wouldn't be buying that virtual shirt, I would be RENTING it for $1 per month. I WON'T PAY MONEY TO RENT VIRTUAL CLOTHING. I don't see myself buying extra soundtracks, cars to race with, new tracks, new levels, new playable characters, etc.
As for the X-Box 1.5 remark, it has some truth. The X-Box 360 is big because it has 3 cores. That is the most important part in my mind because it means that you have an additional 2 cores above what the current generation has for things like dynamically generated models (LOD on terain and such), and most importantly enemy AI. That single handedly more than trippled the ammount of CPU available to AI, so AI should get much more interesting in upcomming games.
As for the PS3, it is revolutionary in it's Cell architecture, providing 8 cores. Now because they are so specialized, they may be harder to program. But if it works out (I should probably say "when" because with Sony, they'll find a way to get benefit out of it even if it takes a while), it will make the X-Box 360 look like an X-Box 1.5 in how far they are from the programming model of the last generation of consoles.
Nintendo is the wildcard in all this. I saw what is suposedly their logo for the Revolution (which I doubt is real because Nintendo always changes from the codenames of their systems). But if what they are promising works out, it sounds quite interesting. Now the question is (after writing all the above) will the Revolution have multiple cores? If not, they could be at a real disadvantage once games start taking advantage of 'em.
The next year or so should be interesting to watch. I like the idea of MS releasing Halo 3 when the PS3 comes out because of the shear bravado of it. But if Halo 3 isn't as good as people hope (or the PS3 has some amazingly popular break out launch title) then the move could backfire. The other thing to watch on MS's part is backwards compatibility. That is the ONLY feature that I care about from them that would change my mind on purchase. Right now
On a side note, does anyone know about W & G's Cracking Contraptions? It was annouced long ago but while the site is up I can't seem to watch them anywhere, and I can't seem to find a DVD of the shorts either. I'd love to see 'em.
Also, if you don't have it, Aardman put out a book all about what they do and how they do it. You can find it on Amazon and it's really good. It explains some of their tricks, stories behind things, and how to make your own little "3D" films as they call them (refering to the fact they are actually 3D objects, as opposed to CGI which is simulated 3D).
That sounds like Cloudmark SpamNet (I think that was what it was called). I used it a few years ago when it was in beta and it worked great. The idea is people marked mail they got as spam if it was. When they did that, a hash of the message (or title, or something like that) was sent to their server. When your mail came in, it was hashed and checked to see if it was spam. It was VERY accurate. It had only one problem:
Cloudmark.
I signed up for the free beta and was told that it would be free forever (they were going to charge businesses, IIRC). Then they chagned their mind but said that early adpoters/beta users would get it free for life. Then it left beta and they offered me a $5 discout (one time) for their subscription service (or some other pointless trinket offer like that). As far as I'm concerned they ripped me off.
That set me off trying other things, and I eventually found POPFile, which I use to this day (great software). I've posted this to Slashdot before (a long time ago). Some nice guy from a anti-spam company gave me a code for a free version of their product to be nice (I never used it, I had found something by then and didn't feel like switching again).
The point of all this is that it is a nice method that really works. If there was an open source project that did the same thing, I would use it. Untill then, I've got a solution that works fine.
But this isn't new (if I'm right about what it is, the article is down).
That patent you refer to was clearly for the iPod clickwheel, but by phrasing all the language and diagrams as a "mouse" with a "rotary dial" you guys totally hid the real nature of the patent until it was released. Mind you, after the iPod mini's release it was pretty obvious that the patent applied to that item.
Did you READ the pattent? Because if you did your an idiot. Sorry, but it's true.
Now ignoring the fact that it says mouse and not MP3 player (which would probably make the patent useless for enforcing copying of the iPod wheel), if you look at the actual patent applicaton (there were images in the link I found in google, just entered the number, chose the top hit, and clicked "images") there are pictures that look EXACTLY LIKE A WHEEL MOUSE. Quite a bit like the origional intellimouse infact. It shows a wheel, perpendicular to the surface of the table the mouse is on, between the mouse buttons, and it even shows where the cord would attach.
It is, unquestionably, a patent on a wheel-mouse.
Now as for the idea of it being an airport express remote, it is clearly 8.5"x11" or bigger. That is a HUGE remote and no one would buy it (especially people who tend to appriciate industrial design, like Apple). Steve wouldn't let the thing out of the door unless you could watch the video ON THE REMOTE, and then what would be the point?
Sorry to pick on your post, but you are so obviously wrong, I just had to point it out.
PS: If you didn't read the article (say because it was down and you couldn't see the illustrations) then I don't blame you for thinking what you did about what it might be. But the illustrations clearly show it is too big to be a remote. Check MirrorDot or NetworkMirror (links in some of the comments).
Well, tablets don't sell to well from what I've heard. If they really took off (and Apple knows how to make break-away products) the cost wouldn't be so bad. Tablets already sell at a premium (IIRC), so the "Apple Tax" may be the same so the costs would be about equal.
Also, while Apple only has like 4% of the PC market, they have a MUCH bigger chunk of the laptop market.
But let's face it. If Apple wants to release a niche product at a premium, the are free too. If it stays niche, then no problem. If the market explodes, it would get cheaper (economies of scale and all that).
I know what you mean. As a coder, a tablet would be cool but not terribly functional for me.
That said, what if you are a graphic designer? Like I bet the guys over at Penny Arcade (who do their comics with a Wacom tablet) would love something like this. Photoshoppers and others would too. It would also work just fine for video editing and some other applications. I can see some real benifits.
That said, having an integrated keyboard (like some of the PC laptop/tablet hybrids have) would pretty much be a prerequesit for someone like me.
Don't forget this has other uses. For example you could mount your LCD on a swivel stand or on your wall in portrait mode, then use function to make the screen "right side up".
If Apple did this, I would expect the screen to automatically rotate what is "up" based on how you hold the tablet. The little gyro in the latest PowerBooks should be enough to allow them to do that.
OK. I bought a Mac in January, so here is what I think.
First and formost, cool. I would have given it consideration, without a doubt. If Apple turned the 12" PB or iBook into a table, that would rock. Now the "doodles" (I find it hard to call them photos, and as drawings they look like basically every other tablet) don't seem to show a keyboard. I've seen pics of PC tablets that the screen can be "reversed" making it a tablet, or used like a normal laptop and I think that's a great idea.
Now what would be REALLY cool would be to make the iBook: Touch (like the name? Come on Apple, use it!) have a touch screen (simple on/off with high resolution), but make the PowerBook: Touch even better. Whether they develop it themselves or partner with Wacom or something like that, that would rule. It would have pressure sensitivity (256 levels?) and angle sensing like the Wacom tablets. Think how great that would be for graphic artists.
Now that might not be cheap. Mass production may help, but Wacom sells the Cintiq montitor/tablet that is 17" and 1280x1024 with 512 levels of pressure for $1799 MSRP. Maybe they'd have to make it an option. So even at 1024x768 if they cut down the resoltuion of touch (64, maybe 32 levels? And the size would be smaller, only 12") they could make it cheaper.
It would be awesome. If anyone could make a tablet that would be great and really cause tablets to take off (instead of being the failure I've heard them called), it would be Apple.
I've seen ones that look like trees (not very realistic, but I suppose better than the normal). Now you couldn't nest eagles, the RF could seriously hurt them at close range if powerfull enough (I don't know the wattages those things use, but they are up in the microwave range of frequencies). As for widmills, I suppose that would be possible, but people complain about those too so you're back to square one. Let's face it, people will complain when ANYTHING is put up on that hill that they think disrupts the view. Even a building with a small antenna on top to provice cell coverage (the most normal looking thing) would be complained about I bet.
For what it's worth, I tried the Batman trailer on my 1.7 GHz PowerBook G4 15" (with 1 gig of RAM) and it looked great. That said, it did drop a few frames here and there. But the fact that the video was 1280x526 and my screen is 1280x768 (or something like that) meant that it was running basically full screen at native resolution and it looked AMAZING. I would LOVE to see one of those on a 30" screen attached to a dual G5 (I'll have to try that next time I go to a computer store:).
But they play on my laptop pretty well. There is no reason Apple couldn't start releasing trailers in 480p (720x480) that would play on most recent Macs without a problem.
The shredder is the first line of defense, and the paperless idea is good too (especially since all sorts of places actually CHARGE YOU for a paper copy anyway). But in regards to the mailbox thing, get a locking mailbox. Where I live the mailboxes are all in little groups that the post office setup and they lock so you can't walk up and steal people's mail. But even if you don't have that kind of setup, you should be able to get a locking mailbox (make sure it's post office approved). They will either have a key the postman uses, or be setup so anyone can put mail IN, but not take it OUT without a key.
I know such things exist, and that will make you safer. If you can't (or don't want to) do something like that, just mail your bills yourself. Don't just stick them in your mailbox and wait for the postman to pick 'em up if anyone can get into it. Take it to a drop off mailbox (you know, the blue ones on street corners) and drop it in there where no-one can (easily) get to it. That way they can't take your checks for washing/copying.
The shredder is the first line. I don't know how far you want to go with all this, but the shredder is the minimum in my opinion.
I just want to make a simple suggestion. I've always loved programing and been facinated by hardware and wanted to do both. So I went for a degree that was half hardware, half software (they called it Computer Engineering). I thought I'd be happy.
I neglected one thing no one ever told me. Calculus. Now I always liked math untill I got to calculus, but I got through it. You need it some in software. But if you aren't good at calculus, you WILL have a hard time with hardware. It will make your brain hurt.
I've switched to CS because I just can't do that much calculus (especially higher level calc). I accept my limitation. But this got me, and I would have saved time had I known it. I just want you to know it so that if that's a problem for you, you don't get stuck (you can always try it and then switch out if it's not for you).
But on my opinion for what you asked, software is great, but hardware is important. Every time a new laptop model is released, they have to redo the hardware (like the motherboard design). The software can stay the same. When a company wants to make a new telephone, they make new hardware for it (so it will be nice and compact). With things like digital cameras and cell phones getting more and more advanced and smaller, hardware is a FACINATING world where you would get to do some cool stuff. And if you can even combine them, by say helping design the hardware and working with the driver team to diagnose problems and add features they'd like.
Either way, have fun. And remember that you can go either way and switch later if you find out that it's not for you (either for a reason like mine, or it just isn't something you like as much as you thought you would). You learn more than facts in college. Hope this helps.
I havne't been to an IMAX theater. If there is a solution, good. There is a question of cost on those though. I don't know how expensive they are. So many of these things that must be done near the commodity level are just terrible if you wear glasses.
I loved the Virtual Boy, but my worry is the glasses. My guess is wireless LCD shutter based glasses if all this is true. The problem is I wear glasses (basically blind w/o 'em). I have never seen any kind of 3D glasses system that works well for people like me. This would be the biggest problem to solve.
As for gyroscopic controllers, I'm not sure how well that would work, but if anyone can do it, Nintendo can. The touchscreen controller idea sounds good, but reminds me a bit of the Jaguar's 12 button section on the controller you put button guides around. But the touch screen opens up MUCH more possibilities.
OS X Tiger is supposed to be full 64-bits through and through. As for WOW, yes it does run 32-bit programs in a WOW layer. As for 16 & 8 bit programs being dropped, for most users that isn't a problem. If you have a 64 bit processor, chances are you don't use any 16 bit (8 bit especially) programs. Those who do (like you) are few and far between as computer users go (I would guess). I don't mind they dropped this, I think it's about time. That said, you can always run them in VMWare or Bochs or some other such program.
I should note, that AMD made that decision. When running a 64 bit OS, the x86-64 architecture can run 64-bit programs, or 32-bit programs. There is no mode (AFAIK) that will let you execute 16 or 8-bit programs. In 32-bit mode on i386 you can still drop down and run 16-bit and 8-bit tasks, but not x86-64. So MS would have to build Virtual PC into Windows to allow that.
I've got a question for anyone running XP 64. Service Pack 2 introduced NX (No eXecute support) for processors that support it. But it is disabled by default because it can cause compatibility problems for some programs.
But since all 64 bit programs must be reengineered anyway (ranging from a simple recompile to a partial rewrite depending on the code), is NX on by default for 64 bit programs (an off for Windows On Windows 32 (the layer that runs Win32 programs on Win64))? Seems like the opportune time to make that switch.
If companies can get drivers out soon for it, should be a relativly nice OS. Of course since this is just a different architecture in many ways this is less than a service pack (since nothing has changed featurewise except under the hood). Comparing it to Tiger wouldn't really be fair for that reason.
But going forward, it should be interesting to see performance differences as drivers mature. I'd love to see a performance comparaison in 6 months or so when things should be relativly good. And now that Windows is out, we should see more 64-bit programs which means better benchmarks for the difference between 32 and 64 bits in everyday tasks. The last big excuse for avoid 64 bits is gone (first it was processors, but AMD and Intel both sell 'em now, then it was Windows, but MS sells THAT now, what's left?).
That option to turn it off is the problem, as I see it.
If every car on the road is human controlled, things are fine (as we have it today).
If every car on the road is computer controlled, things are fine (computer knows what's happening)
If only some cars (possibly as few as one) are controlled by humans, things are MUCH more complex than if computers controll everything.
It is this kind of thing that will make switiching over very tough. My guess it there will be special lanes at first (not unlike the carpool lane, speedpass lanes) that you drive into manually (or into an "entrence zone") and press a button and let the car take you in, and it takes you out (into an "exit zone") where the car puts you back into controll and you drive the rest of the way.
As things progress, there are more and more of these lanes, and fewer and fewer "normal" lanes until you only have these lanes on highways and such. Then people only drive on streets (which would be safer anyways, no 80+ mphs speeds). From here you can make specific streets (the largest ones, one way streets, whatever) computer controlled only. Then you expand that untill you get to where cars are computer controlled only everwhere.
All this would take years, to weed out the "normal" cars as people bought cars that had these functions, and that could be speed up by governement encouragement (tax breaks on buying them/gas/licenses/incentives/etc) and such.
It will probably happen in our lifetimes (unless someone invents a transporter or an aircar or something that is computer driven from the start and those quickly supplant the car as the main mode of transportation). Should be interesting to watch.
First is that everyone will never have this technology. There will always be a few without it. But that's a minor reason.
Not everyone will follow the system's advice at all times.
As people follow the advice and go to side streets, the severity of the origional backup will decrease so that fewer people will bother to avoid it.
Not everyone CAN avoid the problem. There is no way for me to get from my house to the local college without traveling on the highway near my house. To avoid traveling that highway would be 30+ minute detour. Short of actually closing the road, it is usually better for me to just drive through it.
People will go elsewhere. If I'm planning to go to spot A for one errand and find out there is a traffic jam there, I'll go to spot B for a different errand and avoid that whole area. I may avoid it for the day (errand at A was unimportant), or just put it off 'till later (say after C and D) at which time the traffic may have subsided, and I may be in a position where instead of having to drive north to my destination through the traffic, I now must drive east so the traffic jam wouldn't be in my way.
Last is there is more than one alternate route. As the traffic jam happens, people will turn off who are near there because the system tells them too. As those streets start to slow, the system will warn people who get close to take different alternate routes avoiding both problems. And as the do that, the origional will clear up, leading me back to my first point.
I don't think it would be a problem. I think it would help. Kansas City's Scout System provides simple info on some routes (big accident at X and Y, avoid) so that people can avoid it, and it does help. Plus because the message is on many signs (instead of right before the problem) you can avoid the problem from 1 mile away or 20.
I seem to remember that there was a white PS that was released in Asia later (not the initial shipment) that could play Video CDs because they were popular, but it was never released in the states (can you blame them? I've almost NEVER seen video CDs here in the US).
While this is a good thing, frankly if I were Toshiba (and the rest of the HD-DVD group) I'd be scared. Just the PS3 should give Blu-Ray enough installed base to be something to content with, ignoring the fact that Apple (big media production computer brand), Dell (IIRC) and numerous others have already said they'd ship Blu-Ray too.
Yeah, I know that's why they do it. Too bad, but I can understand (from the car maker's point of view). But Project Gotham didn't use licensed cars (IIRC), but they sure LOOKED like various cars to me. Burnout 3 did a good job with nice looking cars that take damage too.
But back on GT4, they could add damage and make it effect handling and such, without showing it on the car (just on a little HUD or something like that).
I would LOVE to play a Project Gotham for the XBox 360.
Slashdot Mirror
But... MS is one of the largest employers in the state. Their employees are highly paid. Those employees spend money, buy expensive houses, etc. Microsoft builds buildings, buys land, and supports the arts and such. And lets not forget all the computers and software that they donate/discout for the state and it's schools.
Washington state will not piss off Microsoft. It is a fact. When those state AGs sued because they didn't like the settlement the DOJ did with Microsoft, was the Washington State AG among them? Why do you think that was?
MS is behind this law because if it works, it removes some (much?) of their responsibility (and also codifies in law that spyware is the programmer's fault, and doesn't specify it to be MS's fault). If the law said that, do you think it would have gotten a vote, let alone pass?
Things like this happen. At least it is a win for the consumer if it works, even if MS still isn't held accountable. All us geeks can do is answer questions from friends truthfully. "What's with/causes/why is there so much spyware?"... "Microsoft." Grass roots will work, we just need it to be organized. But then again we need to do that with lots of things (accepting buggy software, the release-then-patch mantra, overpriced software, etc.)
They did look oftly "this generation".
I must need more caffine.
Does this mean that Nintendo will let us mess with it? I would love to be able to program it. Not only would that increase sales, it would foster talent and good will towards Nintendo. Considering how large the GB/GBA development community is, I would think that would be a good thing. Also, the devices that people use to develop for the GBA Nintendo is always fighting because they can be used for piracy. But if you could develop from the get-go (or maybe with a $50 or $100 kit) people wouldn't need to reverse engineer things to run their own code.
Will Nintendo do it? I kinda doubt it, but I would really love it if they did.
Either way, if it makes it easier to make good games without needing huge teams of programmers to endlessly tinker to get decent performace, it could still be a very good thing.
On a side note though, the Zelda screens don't look as good as many of the PS3/X360 screens. Let's hope there is better to come (based on how much better the GC got though, it should still be great).
Now if they can only make it so I can use it for video...
First is the "media center" idea of the XBox 360. Good luck. You'll need it. I have a DVD player. Everyone does. In fact, I have many (computer, PS2, etc.). But the feature is nearly free, so I don't blame them for including it. Sony will do better in that regard because their machine will play Blu-Ray discs. But as for the rest of it, they are going to have a hard time getting me to use it for anything but games. Play music? Why should I rerip all my CDs? And even if they were in MP3 (they are in AAC), I bet I couldn't just copy them over to the X-Box 360, I'd have to re-rip them. I'm not going to do that. Unless I can stream them to the machine, I won't use that part. I won't play DVDs on it (already covered that). Now playing video would be nice if I could stream if off my computer (a Mac). But my guess is that you can only do that from a Windows Media Center eddition computer, which doesn't help me. They can put all the media features they want, it doesn't matter to me, I'll only be buying it for the games. I don't care about videoconfrencing, VOIP chat, or editing home movies (or anything else they come up with). It is a console, and while it is nice they will pack on all those features, I don't think it will make any real difference in sales.
The thing that WILL make a difference (in my mind) is the micropayments thing they are talking about. I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of paying $1 so my character can wear a shirt that they sell at Old Navy sounds like one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. I will not be buying virtual shirts. I will not be paying money to unlock content on the disc. I refuse to pay to buy pointless items. I don't care if everyone who plays the game online gets a bright pink shirt with the word "Luzer" on it unless they buy another one, I'm not doing it. Go milk someone else for money, that idea will fail. And based on other industries (I'm looking at you cell phone companies), I wouldn't be buying that virtual shirt, I would be RENTING it for $1 per month. I WON'T PAY MONEY TO RENT VIRTUAL CLOTHING. I don't see myself buying extra soundtracks, cars to race with, new tracks, new levels, new playable characters, etc.
As for the X-Box 1.5 remark, it has some truth. The X-Box 360 is big because it has 3 cores. That is the most important part in my mind because it means that you have an additional 2 cores above what the current generation has for things like dynamically generated models (LOD on terain and such), and most importantly enemy AI. That single handedly more than trippled the ammount of CPU available to AI, so AI should get much more interesting in upcomming games.
As for the PS3, it is revolutionary in it's Cell architecture, providing 8 cores. Now because they are so specialized, they may be harder to program. But if it works out (I should probably say "when" because with Sony, they'll find a way to get benefit out of it even if it takes a while), it will make the X-Box 360 look like an X-Box 1.5 in how far they are from the programming model of the last generation of consoles.
Nintendo is the wildcard in all this. I saw what is suposedly their logo for the Revolution (which I doubt is real because Nintendo always changes from the codenames of their systems). But if what they are promising works out, it sounds quite interesting. Now the question is (after writing all the above) will the Revolution have multiple cores? If not, they could be at a real disadvantage once games start taking advantage of 'em.
The next year or so should be interesting to watch. I like the idea of MS releasing Halo 3 when the PS3 comes out because of the shear bravado of it. But if Halo 3 isn't as good as people hope (or the PS3 has some amazingly popular break out launch title) then the move could backfire. The other thing to watch on MS's part is backwards compatibility. That is the ONLY feature that I care about from them that would change my mind on purchase. Right now
On a side note, does anyone know about W & G's Cracking Contraptions? It was annouced long ago but while the site is up I can't seem to watch them anywhere, and I can't seem to find a DVD of the shorts either. I'd love to see 'em.
Also, if you don't have it, Aardman put out a book all about what they do and how they do it. You can find it on Amazon and it's really good. It explains some of their tricks, stories behind things, and how to make your own little "3D" films as they call them (refering to the fact they are actually 3D objects, as opposed to CGI which is simulated 3D).
Cloudmark.
I signed up for the free beta and was told that it would be free forever (they were going to charge businesses, IIRC). Then they chagned their mind but said that early adpoters/beta users would get it free for life. Then it left beta and they offered me a $5 discout (one time) for their subscription service (or some other pointless trinket offer like that). As far as I'm concerned they ripped me off.
That set me off trying other things, and I eventually found POPFile, which I use to this day (great software). I've posted this to Slashdot before (a long time ago). Some nice guy from a anti-spam company gave me a code for a free version of their product to be nice (I never used it, I had found something by then and didn't feel like switching again).
The point of all this is that it is a nice method that really works. If there was an open source project that did the same thing, I would use it. Untill then, I've got a solution that works fine.
But this isn't new (if I'm right about what it is, the article is down).
Did you READ the pattent? Because if you did your an idiot. Sorry, but it's true.
Now ignoring the fact that it says mouse and not MP3 player (which would probably make the patent useless for enforcing copying of the iPod wheel), if you look at the actual patent applicaton (there were images in the link I found in google, just entered the number, chose the top hit, and clicked "images") there are pictures that look EXACTLY LIKE A WHEEL MOUSE. Quite a bit like the origional intellimouse infact. It shows a wheel, perpendicular to the surface of the table the mouse is on, between the mouse buttons, and it even shows where the cord would attach.
It is, unquestionably, a patent on a wheel-mouse.
Now as for the idea of it being an airport express remote, it is clearly 8.5"x11" or bigger. That is a HUGE remote and no one would buy it (especially people who tend to appriciate industrial design, like Apple). Steve wouldn't let the thing out of the door unless you could watch the video ON THE REMOTE, and then what would be the point?
Sorry to pick on your post, but you are so obviously wrong, I just had to point it out.
PS: If you didn't read the article (say because it was down and you couldn't see the illustrations) then I don't blame you for thinking what you did about what it might be. But the illustrations clearly show it is too big to be a remote. Check MirrorDot or NetworkMirror (links in some of the comments).
Also, while Apple only has like 4% of the PC market, they have a MUCH bigger chunk of the laptop market.
But let's face it. If Apple wants to release a niche product at a premium, the are free too. If it stays niche, then no problem. If the market explodes, it would get cheaper (economies of scale and all that).
That said, what if you are a graphic designer? Like I bet the guys over at Penny Arcade (who do their comics with a Wacom tablet) would love something like this. Photoshoppers and others would too. It would also work just fine for video editing and some other applications. I can see some real benifits.
That said, having an integrated keyboard (like some of the PC laptop/tablet hybrids have) would pretty much be a prerequesit for someone like me.
If Apple did this, I would expect the screen to automatically rotate what is "up" based on how you hold the tablet. The little gyro in the latest PowerBooks should be enough to allow them to do that.
First and formost, cool. I would have given it consideration, without a doubt. If Apple turned the 12" PB or iBook into a table, that would rock. Now the "doodles" (I find it hard to call them photos, and as drawings they look like basically every other tablet) don't seem to show a keyboard. I've seen pics of PC tablets that the screen can be "reversed" making it a tablet, or used like a normal laptop and I think that's a great idea.
Now what would be REALLY cool would be to make the iBook: Touch (like the name? Come on Apple, use it!) have a touch screen (simple on/off with high resolution), but make the PowerBook: Touch even better. Whether they develop it themselves or partner with Wacom or something like that, that would rule. It would have pressure sensitivity (256 levels?) and angle sensing like the Wacom tablets. Think how great that would be for graphic artists.
Now that might not be cheap. Mass production may help, but Wacom sells the Cintiq montitor/tablet that is 17" and 1280x1024 with 512 levels of pressure for $1799 MSRP. Maybe they'd have to make it an option. So even at 1024x768 if they cut down the resoltuion of touch (64, maybe 32 levels? And the size would be smaller, only 12") they could make it cheaper.
It would be awesome. If anyone could make a tablet that would be great and really cause tablets to take off (instead of being the failure I've heard them called), it would be Apple.
I've seen ones that look like trees (not very realistic, but I suppose better than the normal). Now you couldn't nest eagles, the RF could seriously hurt them at close range if powerfull enough (I don't know the wattages those things use, but they are up in the microwave range of frequencies). As for widmills, I suppose that would be possible, but people complain about those too so you're back to square one. Let's face it, people will complain when ANYTHING is put up on that hill that they think disrupts the view. Even a building with a small antenna on top to provice cell coverage (the most normal looking thing) would be complained about I bet.
But they play on my laptop pretty well. There is no reason Apple couldn't start releasing trailers in 480p (720x480) that would play on most recent Macs without a problem.
The shredder is the first line of defense, and the paperless idea is good too (especially since all sorts of places actually CHARGE YOU for a paper copy anyway). But in regards to the mailbox thing, get a locking mailbox. Where I live the mailboxes are all in little groups that the post office setup and they lock so you can't walk up and steal people's mail. But even if you don't have that kind of setup, you should be able to get a locking mailbox (make sure it's post office approved). They will either have a key the postman uses, or be setup so anyone can put mail IN, but not take it OUT without a key.
I know such things exist, and that will make you safer. If you can't (or don't want to) do something like that, just mail your bills yourself. Don't just stick them in your mailbox and wait for the postman to pick 'em up if anyone can get into it. Take it to a drop off mailbox (you know, the blue ones on street corners) and drop it in there where no-one can (easily) get to it. That way they can't take your checks for washing/copying.
The shredder is the first line. I don't know how far you want to go with all this, but the shredder is the minimum in my opinion.
I neglected one thing no one ever told me. Calculus. Now I always liked math untill I got to calculus, but I got through it. You need it some in software. But if you aren't good at calculus, you WILL have a hard time with hardware. It will make your brain hurt.
I've switched to CS because I just can't do that much calculus (especially higher level calc). I accept my limitation. But this got me, and I would have saved time had I known it. I just want you to know it so that if that's a problem for you, you don't get stuck (you can always try it and then switch out if it's not for you).
But on my opinion for what you asked, software is great, but hardware is important. Every time a new laptop model is released, they have to redo the hardware (like the motherboard design). The software can stay the same. When a company wants to make a new telephone, they make new hardware for it (so it will be nice and compact). With things like digital cameras and cell phones getting more and more advanced and smaller, hardware is a FACINATING world where you would get to do some cool stuff. And if you can even combine them, by say helping design the hardware and working with the driver team to diagnose problems and add features they'd like.
Either way, have fun. And remember that you can go either way and switch later if you find out that it's not for you (either for a reason like mine, or it just isn't something you like as much as you thought you would). You learn more than facts in college. Hope this helps.
I havne't been to an IMAX theater. If there is a solution, good. There is a question of cost on those though. I don't know how expensive they are. So many of these things that must be done near the commodity level are just terrible if you wear glasses.
As for gyroscopic controllers, I'm not sure how well that would work, but if anyone can do it, Nintendo can. The touchscreen controller idea sounds good, but reminds me a bit of the Jaguar's 12 button section on the controller you put button guides around. But the touch screen opens up MUCH more possibilities.
I should note, that AMD made that decision. When running a 64 bit OS, the x86-64 architecture can run 64-bit programs, or 32-bit programs. There is no mode (AFAIK) that will let you execute 16 or 8-bit programs. In 32-bit mode on i386 you can still drop down and run 16-bit and 8-bit tasks, but not x86-64. So MS would have to build Virtual PC into Windows to allow that.
But since all 64 bit programs must be reengineered anyway (ranging from a simple recompile to a partial rewrite depending on the code), is NX on by default for 64 bit programs (an off for Windows On Windows 32 (the layer that runs Win32 programs on Win64))? Seems like the opportune time to make that switch.
If companies can get drivers out soon for it, should be a relativly nice OS. Of course since this is just a different architecture in many ways this is less than a service pack (since nothing has changed featurewise except under the hood). Comparing it to Tiger wouldn't really be fair for that reason.
But going forward, it should be interesting to see performance differences as drivers mature. I'd love to see a performance comparaison in 6 months or so when things should be relativly good. And now that Windows is out, we should see more 64-bit programs which means better benchmarks for the difference between 32 and 64 bits in everyday tasks. The last big excuse for avoid 64 bits is gone (first it was processors, but AMD and Intel both sell 'em now, then it was Windows, but MS sells THAT now, what's left?).
It is this kind of thing that will make switiching over very tough. My guess it there will be special lanes at first (not unlike the carpool lane, speedpass lanes) that you drive into manually (or into an "entrence zone") and press a button and let the car take you in, and it takes you out (into an "exit zone") where the car puts you back into controll and you drive the rest of the way.
As things progress, there are more and more of these lanes, and fewer and fewer "normal" lanes until you only have these lanes on highways and such. Then people only drive on streets (which would be safer anyways, no 80+ mphs speeds). From here you can make specific streets (the largest ones, one way streets, whatever) computer controlled only. Then you expand that untill you get to where cars are computer controlled only everwhere.
All this would take years, to weed out the "normal" cars as people bought cars that had these functions, and that could be speed up by governement encouragement (tax breaks on buying them/gas/licenses/incentives/etc) and such.
It will probably happen in our lifetimes (unless someone invents a transporter or an aircar or something that is computer driven from the start and those quickly supplant the car as the main mode of transportation). Should be interesting to watch.
I don't think it would be a problem. I think it would help. Kansas City's Scout System provides simple info on some routes (big accident at X and Y, avoid) so that people can avoid it, and it does help. Plus because the message is on many signs (instead of right before the problem) you can avoid the problem from 1 mile away or 20.
I just watched the commercial, go to here on the Madden site and you can choose low or hi bandwidth. Looks pretty impressive.
As for the console issue, the VE pics look more realistic to me (as to what it may end up looking like). But we'll just have to wait and see.
While this is a good thing, frankly if I were Toshiba (and the rest of the HD-DVD group) I'd be scared. Just the PS3 should give Blu-Ray enough installed base to be something to content with, ignoring the fact that Apple (big media production computer brand), Dell (IIRC) and numerous others have already said they'd ship Blu-Ray too.
But back on GT4, they could add damage and make it effect handling and such, without showing it on the car (just on a little HUD or something like that).
I would LOVE to play a Project Gotham for the XBox 360.