I loved TechTV/ZDTV. Then they merged. I still watch the channel (in that I have my TiVo record shows from it).
That said, I have complaints. I was worried when it was announced, and it turned out OK, but there are still problems. Lets start with series. When will new episodes of Invent This! and Fresh Gear start?
Let's go to the G4 content that I now get. Some shows (say Icons) can be interesting. Filter can be interesting, but the budget is low, and the host is annoying as hell (as is the style). I wouldn't have gone out of my way to get G4 (I origionally got a DirecTV dish due in large part to ZDTV, as it was then known).
And... grow up. Naming the evening/latenight block "the G-Spot"? Come on.
X-Play is as good as ever. Otherwise, it's worse on average.
And please... drop Anime Unleashed (the name)! I like Anime, but name the shows their real names and call the "block" Anime Unleashed (not unlike Adult Swim on Cartoon Network). It's really annoying to check to see what's on and only see "Anime Unleashed" and have to switch to see what series it is. But this one is just a pet pieve of mine.
Well I knew they were here, but they were huge in Europe right? I meant if they got so big there, why didn't they get up there with Commodore and Atari here in the states?
Was it just that they came in too late (Commodore and Atari were already here, while they didn't have much stiff competition in Europe?). Or was it something else?
This brings up a question that I've been wondering. Sinclair machines were very popular over in Europe, right? Could anyone tell me why they took off over there and not over here?
And this is a problem that will be hard to solve untill Linux gets MUCH more popular or MS embraces (true defintion, not theirs) heterogenous environments (don't hold your breath). The fact is MS will always have some advantages (especially in ease of use) when you use Windows clients. Linux might give you advantages if you use it to serve files or mail and use Windows servers for profiles and AD. If you had Linux clients and were deciding between Windows and Linux for the server, would there even be much of a contest? I doubt it.
Why not make their own unix (I know they had one, Xenix right?) and position Windows Server as a managment tool for their unix servers or a server for small businesses (sort of like many people might use OS X machines). Given MS's nice tools, if they made it so that it could manage Linux machines with it's tools and wizards and such they would have a great product.
But they won't do that becuase it would let people use Linux. That's why they could do it with their own Unux.
But they won't do that becuase it would make Windows server look bad and could be confusing.
The solution: GET YOUR CUSTOM STUFF CROSS-PLATFORM. That's the true solution.
I agree. While Apple is trying to get their machines in the server room (especially for small businesses) and they are nice machines, they are definatly not aimed at the kind of places that would probably demand this certification. I would think this kind of thing would be more apt to be a requirement for large contracts at large companies (Fortune 500 and such), where if they wanted to they would have the resources to work around the bits that are missing from OS X (whatever those are, no idea) if they really cared.
I don't think Apple would get any real benefit (at least in the short term) from such a certification. They should get into more server rooms first.
Wrong wrong wrong. You obviously never used a TiVo.
Where to start. How 'bout the box. I OWN my box. I can upgrade it if I want. Second is the UI. The TiVo UI is beautiful. Easily the best I've ever used on a consumer electronics device. Second is the fee. $13 a month? I pay $5 for my DirecTiVo. And I can record two shows at once, digital quality, Dolby Digital tracks and all. I can't program mine over the internet either, but there are other features.
How do you schedule recordings? Do you tell it to record every Saturday at 6 for an hour? Or do you tell it to record CSI (just an example)? I can tell it to do EITHER. I can also tell it to record any programs with the world "Moose" in the title, or anything with Andy Dick or any other actor. Can you have yours record only new episodes? I can. I can set mine to record any special one time event that comes on TV (and I can combine that with other thigns like the actor, series, or title filters). I can tell my TiVo to record Law and Order, new episodes, on ANY channel. So if I can't get it off NBC (due to scheduling conflicts, rare thanks to two tuners), it will pick it up off USA.
How 'bout suggestions? Mine lears what I like to watch and suggests things. It's not always perfect, but it works. It's found specials on things that I didn't know were comming on that I liked. It has introduced me to some series. Does it keep the drive full of programs? My TiVo tries to keep the drive full with programs that I like or that it thinks I liked (based on thumb ratings). Lots of great stuff on my TiVo. And the new ones hold 37 hours of programming. And because I own the box I can expand that... a TON (up to 240 hours). How many hours does yours hold?
And in the future, they are working on TiVo2Go so you can watch your programs that have been recorded on your PC or your PDA. They are partnered with Netflix so you will be able to have the movies you want to see downloaded to your TiVo for you, no need to wait for the mail. Cool stuff.
Are there ads on your box? When I got digital cable from my cable co (which I cancled because the boxes were terrible, not that their service was ever any better) were filled with little ads. Yet I still got to pay them for the privilage of using the box. No ads all over my TiVo, just one off a link on the "home" screen that you never have to visit (and they are cool ads too, video and you can push a button to have literature deleiverd straight to your house if you want).
Last of all, cost? You complain about cost? Ignoring how much cable costs and how they like to raise their rates, a DirecTiVo is superior to a generic cable company PVR and is cheaper. If you are a new customer, you can get a three room system including one TiVo for FREE. Box cost, $0. The DVR Charge on the bill is $7, no matter how many TiVos you have. Not $7 per box, $7 total. Don't want a DirecTiVo? You can get a TiVo for $50, not the $250 you say (that would be a top of the line box with hundreds of hours of space). Let's review.
DirecTiVo (possibly best of all SD TiVos):
box = $0 (plus 2 free DirecTV recievers, worth about $100 total)
service = $7/mo
Cable Co
box = $0
service = $10
$3 cheaper per month (and I'm guess you pay $10 PER BOX, so if you got more than one it's even better). The box costs the same. You OWN the box. The UI rules. Record TWO SHOWS AT ONCE.
It's not greed. If you had used a TiVo for a month (free trial dude, give it a try) you would be more than willing to pay them that fee. They are not being greedy. I bet most people with TiVos would gladly pay more (I know I'd pay over $20).
Your right. My TiVo is cheaper, I OWN it, almost certanly better UI, I can record two things at once, and more. Why the hell would anyone want a TiVo when your cable company gives you a worse deal?
I can understand that. If you get multiple PVRs, you might want to go with DirecTV. There is a fee for having a DirecTiVo, but it is only applied to the account once. So if I added 3 more DirecTiVos to my account, it would cost the same per month as if I added 3 normal DirecTV recievers. After the first one, the additional DirecTiVos are essentially "free".
That said, I don't think there is a lifetime service option for the DirecTiVo.
"On the short term it will cost you more, but you will avoid the monthly payment ($12.95). In my case, I just wanted to have something I could just plug in and enjoy."
I'd like to comment on this. About a year ago (maybe more) I messed around with MythTV on an old (and too slow) Linux box. It was fun and I learned a lot by reading the mailing lists (they were trying to figure out how to block commercials at the time). I love messing with things, and I would love to be able to hack MythTV. After a while I gave up for two reasons: hardware (mine was too slow, didn't want to pay for better hardware at that time for a little side project) and interest (it was fun, but after a while I lost interest).
Later that year (about one year ago now) I got a DirecTiVo. I don't like monthly payments, because often I feel like I'm getting ripped off. I have to say that the $5 a month I pay for my DirecTiVo (yep, cheaper than stand alone) is well worth it. I'd pay $20, easy. One of the reasons that I went with a TiVo was the "plug in and enjoy" factor. At the end of the day, I had stuff to do and I just wanted a tool I could use without having to tweek all the time. Even if you LIKE constantly tinkering with your stuff (as I do in some circumstances, like my PC), you owe it to yourself to get a TiVo over a MythTV box. The interface is just so perfect. It works just so well. It's not just something that does what it should (like a VCR), it doesn't it's job amazingly well. I don't think I've ever had a product that went so high above my expectations. And if you considder that my brother already had a TiVo (same house as me, so I've used it) and I had read all the great stuff here on Slashdot, I didn't know that was possible. It IS that good.
Note that while a TiVo may be great, a DirecTiVo is to die for. Just like a TiVo (same interface, technology, etc), except that you have TWO tuners, so you can record TWO shows at once (take that NBC who wants to start shows 1 minute off the hour to screw up TiVos, I can record your shows ANYWAYS). It's fantastic. Not only that, but it's all pure digital (straight off the sat) so all the channels look just like they would if you used a normal sat box, and EVERYTHING gets recorded with the signal (that means it stores the Dolby Digital tracks from movies on Showtime and such) which is great.
I have owned many consumer electronic devices, some work great (my VCRs are all fine), but some are terrible. I owned a Digital Cable box from my cable company (Comcrud) and it was terrible. Slow to change channels, slow to show the guide, slow to do anything, and it would crash. Best of all not only did I have to pay extra to rent the box, THEY PUT ADS ALL OVER THE USER INTERFACE FOR IT. It seems that as technology gets more complex, it gets harder to make things "just work". TiVo has got it right. Please support them and try out an awesome product (you have no idea how much your chained to TV schedules untill you don't have to care anymore).
Yes, you can run ad-aware and whatnot, but there is a better way.
Do all the computers (or even most) really need to be able to install applications and such? Is that really neccessary? Lock them down! Lock them down TIGHT so the users can't install stuff. Lock out all internet access (through a proxy or something) for any computer/user that doesn't need it for their job. Use something like Ghost or DeepFreeze to restore computers nightly/weekly/whever there is a problem. That way, even if something DOES get installed, it will be gone when the computer is re-imaged over the LAN (overnight, perhaps).
And don't forget the users. Not only do they need to be educated, but put some kind of penalties on them for getting spyware installed. Give them one "warning", then after that start doing things. They lose internet (if possible), they get docked a little pay/vacation time/sick days, something. You'd obviously have to talk to a lawyer to make sure it's legal and such, but when it becomes the user's problem too, they'll care a lot more. Another great suggestion is this. Is there some kind of message of the day or builten board or something? Post the names of repeat offenders on it for a few days after each incedent. That kind of publicity can work too (again, make sure it's worded in a way that can't get you in trouble, check with the law guys).
Through removing unneccessary premissions, restoring the OS, and just plain old humiliation... you can make your spyware life easier.
Yeah, I thought about that. I think it's because we find it easier to say "lin-ux" than "leye-nux", the first "sounds more natural". People tend to go for a short vowel. I've only run across one person in the last few years who calls it "leye-nux". Everyone else calls it one of the other two (with the majority going with "lin-ux", since I'm in the US).
But if you see the name Linus an "Leenus", then you naturally go to "leenux".
I've heard it pronounced all three ways (lin-ux, leye-nux, lee-nux). Linus says he doesn't really care. But there is a soundbyte somewhere on the net (it used to be the test sound when you installed a soundcard under Linux) that was Linus saying "My name is Leenus Torvald and I pronouse Leenux... Leenux." (or something like that). So yes, in theory, it probably should be Lee-nux.
That said, people in the US have been brainwashed to pronouce the name "leye-nus" for over 50 years by the comic strip "Peanuts". I never knew there WAS any other way to pronouce that name until after I got into Linux and heard Linus pronounce his name.
I assume most Finnish people pronounce it the way he does.
It's just based on how you pronouce the name "Linus" by default.
I have three suggestions. The first, as has already been suggested, would be the LCD for the PSOne. It uses standard RCA jacks for video (IIRC) so you shouldn't have a problem. If you're willing to hack up a cable, then you could use ones from other systems too (I'm guessing you're not up to this, don't blame you).
Second is you can get little 640x480 displays on the surplus market that are about the right size (the screens that go in those little LCDs for the consoles). Look around on the Hard|Forums (HardOCP's forums) and you'll find people who have put such things in their cases (might even find guides on how to do it!) These things usually take a standard RCA video input too. That's another thing. Find a LCD you like, and build a frame. Some of those frames (like the one for the PSOne or XBox) are wider than they need to be for asthetic reasons. As for the speakers, you can always attach two little speakers above/below the display or on top of the computer and have 'em "fold down" to the sides of the PC for use.
Third, and possibly most important, is rotation. Have you considered that? If you mount the display on a little thing that would allow you to rotate it 90 degrees for storage (and maybe let you fold it down), then instead of being limited to 8" of width, you could be limited to 8" of height. That means instead of a 8"x6" display (frame included that's 10"), you could have a 10.6"x8" display (frame included that's 13.3"). That is a whole extra 3.3" of screen space, which might make viewing easier. But making the pivot and such (probably mounted at the corner of the display) might not be easy (unless you can find a pre-made one used for something else you can "borrow").
OK, I haven't read any other comments yet, and I'd like to moderate this (I just got points) but I just HAVE to weigh in.
The main question is, switching to Windows from what?
If I have a PPC and I have to run Linux, I might switch. I REALLY like Linux, but the fact is that Windows "just works" a little bit more, and while I do most of my gaming on consoles, if the games appeared, I would seriously look at buying a copy. For all our complaining, Windows does have a lot going for it. I could always dual boot anyways. A true copy of Office could come in handy.
If I have a PPC and it's a Mac with OS X... I don't see why ANYONE would. It's got the great design of the Mac and stability and CLI goodness of Unix. And OS X already HAS Office, so that point is moot. The only thing that I could think of would be the games, and Apple could push more on that (better hardware (GFX cards not 6-12 months behind x86) would help). Dual boot, MAYBE.
"Pretty sad when you loose an election to a dead person and get slotted right into a high ranking, federal executive position you're not even remotely qualified for."
I've seen this many times before, here on/. too, and it makes me sick. It's not like he was an incumbent that was so bad he lost to a dead guy (which would be one thing). He was the challenger. He lost to a very popular man who died VERY shortly before the election. They couldn't change the ballot. Some (many?) people saw voting for him as a way to honor his memory.
Now I'm not going to pretend to know whether Mel Carnahand, a.k.a. "the dead guy", was good or not. I won't pretend to know whether his wife (who got the seat he won) is any good. I don't live in Missouri so it doesn't effect me personally. But if you are going to pick on someone you don't like for political reasons... GROW UP and do it in a more mature way (like with real, relevant facts). "He must be dum and abizmul at his job 'cause he lost to a dead guy! Ha ha ha". Grow up. Have a little respect.
And it wouldn't matter if Ashcroft was a good AG (I'm not saying he is or isn't). Chances are he would be replaced with the change of administration anyway.
I agree. I want one, but if they price it above $250 they are shooting themselves in the foot and will be another Sega Nomad (those were expensive at first as I remember) or like the NeoGeo Pocket (don't remember the true name, but it premiered at like $500, IIRC).
Their target audience may be "older and more sophisticated" with more discresionary income, but if they try anything over $250 they're dead.
And I hope they do good with battery life (I trust they will). I'm not expecting the 20 hours a GBA can deliver, but they don't want to be the next GameGear (man did those things eat batteries!). But since the battery is internal and can't be swapped out (according to everything I've seen), when it's dead, it's dead (can't put new ones in like you could with the GameGear); so that's even worse.
Yes, it's worrysome, but there is some stuff on our side.
First is... we controll their cashflow. They can push and push, but one day they'll push so far that the average Joe starts to see it and rebel (already started some with people unable to copy their "CDs" to their iPods). And when they are spending tons on lawyers and it is only driving down their cash flow by pissing off consumers, that's a recipy for their death. Too bad that probably won't happen any time soon.
Second is that with at least the buzzwords of the day don't really apply. I mean, how high do you have to be to think that copying your legal CD to your iPod or watching a movie on your TV (God forbid!) is "terrorism" or that it's "patriotism" to not be allowed to tape a TV show?
Yes, I know they are technically censoring people. You're right. But what I meant was the people crying foul over it. I have no problem with them cesoring cuss words and other such profanity. I think they should clamp down on it more. It wasn't meant quite literally.
I was refering to people complaining about it being opressive and unfair, when I (and many others) see no problem (or even appriciate it). It's not like they are censoring viewpoints or such.
I don't think so. The reason they can sue WKRP or whoever is because they are using (renting) the public airways and it's accessable to anyone. So they have limits and fines to protect the innocent (like children).
But Sirrius is direct. It isn't a broadcast that anyone can pick up, they must have a subscription. So the FCC can't regulate them any more than they can the Playboy channel (and maybe not even then, since I don't think any of their laws mention sat-radio). If you have sat-radio, you are over 18 or have a parent who knows that stuff is on there who is supposed to be responsible (in theory).
So in short, no, I don't think the FCC can touch Sirrius or XM.
Let me start off by saying I don't support shock jocks and I've never listened to Stern.
OK, that out of the way, here is how I see it. First of all, it's a very novel solution to this whole "FCC is censoring people" stuff (which I don't believe, but that's a matter of opinon). I never would have thought of that. I wonder if any other shock jocks follow suit. Makes sense though. XM has a Playboy channel (I have no idea what's on it), so obviously they aren't subject to those kinds of fines. I wonder how substantially his program will change now that he's free to say and do whatever he wants. And I wonder if Sirrius will have any kind of limits or leash on what he can do.
As for moving to Sirrus, they've got to love that. As the article says, their stock jumped 15%. While I've never listened to Stern, the fact that I know who he is without having to read an article or something like that says he's popular (or contravertial, but in this case both). I bet this will do some great things for Sirrus's membership (although it might drive a few away on idological grounds, but I doubt more than a handfull). I have to wonder if there was any kind of bidding war between Sirrus and XM (which my family has a subscription to). I would think having a radio celeb go sat-radio only would be something XM would have liked to be a part of. This should also lend an air of credibility to the idea of sat-radio, if a big star did this.
On a side note, YRO never seems to have anything to do with Online any more. Why not just rename it "Your Rights"? Just a thought. Don't bother commenting on this part.
I am a republican and I agree that government should stay out of those dealings. The free market is supposed to take care of that stuff. But thanks to ignorance on the part of many people (not knowing about spyware, prevention, etc) and greed (being nice here by not assuming maliciousness), the makers of spyware have made things bad enough that I think it's fine for the government to step in to prevent things from getting worse.
Sure things would have gotten better. The question is much longer were you willing to put up with spyware and how much worse would it have gotten before it got better.
Like I said, I don't think he's had any dealing with spyware infecitons, because if he had I don't see how he could vote against this (even with those principals) unless his stance is pure free-market (no governement regulations, EVER on ANYTHING), which I would disagree with.
I've been staying away from the politics section (at least untill the election is over) because so many of the things I see make me very mad (the viewpoints), especially here on/. (which is quite liberal when I've very conservative).
That said, I don't see how anyone thought this was a serious issue, or that by electing Bush we would be bringing back the draft (as has been insinuated by some small groups, not the DNC as far as I know). First off was the small problem that... the president can't reinstate the draft, it would take congress (you know, that silly checks and balances thing).
My second question would be (this is to those who said the draft would be reinstated)... why? What political purpose would it serve (besides increasing troop numbers)? I would piss off your voters, it would mean more wealthy people in the service (aren't republicans supposed to do things to FAVOR the wealthy?). The idea has never made sense to me.
Lets face it. Bringing back the draft has NO support. With the exception of a crackpot here or there, I would expect France to try to annex the US before I would expect the draft to have a real chance at comming back.
I'd also like to thank/. for pointing out that the only representatives pushing this were democrats. Whenever I've heard activists saying Bush would bring back the draft, they always fail to mention that part. Also note that CBS was snookered again the other day when they had some lady crying about how Bush would bring back the draft and her son would go get killed in Iraq. It turned out she was a known anti-Bush activist.
This was never a serious issue (in that it was not where near likely), but it has been interesting in the way of seeing how fast an urban legend can take hold. I heard a story (about a week ago) about a kid who convinced a friend to shoot him in the foot so he wouldn't get drafted. Then when he was at the hospital, it was pointed out to him that there was no draft.
How could two kids (they must have been high-school aged if they were worried about being drafted) not know there was no draft in the first place?
I'm a republican, and I can really respect him for sticking for his beliefs.
That said, he must not have a computer at home that he has to take care of. Any computers he uses must be monitored by IT professional. Becasue as much as I respect that philosophy, I don't see how anyone who has had to deal with spyware couldn't vote against it.
Very interesting. I'll have to try this on my phone tomarrow.
With all the predictions of "GPS on your phone will let them send you targeted ads" that I seem to see every once in a while, this is kind of cool. Does anyone know of any other programs like this? Wouldn't it be interesting to be able to see how many car accidents happen each year at the intersection your closest to, or what nationality the neighborhood your in is (based on the various kinds of restraunts near you, maybe). Anyone have any neat ideas for this kind of thing?
As a side note, does anyone know of a program that I could get for my phone (Java/J2ME) that would let me view it's GPS data (my location)? For some reason "they" don't want me to know where I am.
Slashdot Mirror
That said, I have complaints. I was worried when it was announced, and it turned out OK, but there are still problems. Lets start with series. When will new episodes of Invent This! and Fresh Gear start?
Let's go to the G4 content that I now get. Some shows (say Icons) can be interesting. Filter can be interesting, but the budget is low, and the host is annoying as hell (as is the style). I wouldn't have gone out of my way to get G4 (I origionally got a DirecTV dish due in large part to ZDTV, as it was then known).
And... grow up. Naming the evening/latenight block "the G-Spot"? Come on.
X-Play is as good as ever. Otherwise, it's worse on average.
And please... drop Anime Unleashed (the name)! I like Anime, but name the shows their real names and call the "block" Anime Unleashed (not unlike Adult Swim on Cartoon Network). It's really annoying to check to see what's on and only see "Anime Unleashed" and have to switch to see what series it is. But this one is just a pet pieve of mine.
Was it just that they came in too late (Commodore and Atari were already here, while they didn't have much stiff competition in Europe?). Or was it something else?
Either way, neat show. Wish I could go.
Why not make their own unix (I know they had one, Xenix right?) and position Windows Server as a managment tool for their unix servers or a server for small businesses (sort of like many people might use OS X machines). Given MS's nice tools, if they made it so that it could manage Linux machines with it's tools and wizards and such they would have a great product.
But they won't do that becuase it would let people use Linux. That's why they could do it with their own Unux.
But they won't do that becuase it would make Windows server look bad and could be confusing.
The solution: GET YOUR CUSTOM STUFF CROSS-PLATFORM. That's the true solution.
I don't think Apple would get any real benefit (at least in the short term) from such a certification. They should get into more server rooms first.
Where to start. How 'bout the box. I OWN my box. I can upgrade it if I want. Second is the UI. The TiVo UI is beautiful. Easily the best I've ever used on a consumer electronics device. Second is the fee. $13 a month? I pay $5 for my DirecTiVo. And I can record two shows at once, digital quality, Dolby Digital tracks and all. I can't program mine over the internet either, but there are other features.
How do you schedule recordings? Do you tell it to record every Saturday at 6 for an hour? Or do you tell it to record CSI (just an example)? I can tell it to do EITHER. I can also tell it to record any programs with the world "Moose" in the title, or anything with Andy Dick or any other actor. Can you have yours record only new episodes? I can. I can set mine to record any special one time event that comes on TV (and I can combine that with other thigns like the actor, series, or title filters). I can tell my TiVo to record Law and Order, new episodes, on ANY channel. So if I can't get it off NBC (due to scheduling conflicts, rare thanks to two tuners), it will pick it up off USA.
How 'bout suggestions? Mine lears what I like to watch and suggests things. It's not always perfect, but it works. It's found specials on things that I didn't know were comming on that I liked. It has introduced me to some series. Does it keep the drive full of programs? My TiVo tries to keep the drive full with programs that I like or that it thinks I liked (based on thumb ratings). Lots of great stuff on my TiVo. And the new ones hold 37 hours of programming. And because I own the box I can expand that... a TON (up to 240 hours). How many hours does yours hold?
And in the future, they are working on TiVo2Go so you can watch your programs that have been recorded on your PC or your PDA. They are partnered with Netflix so you will be able to have the movies you want to see downloaded to your TiVo for you, no need to wait for the mail. Cool stuff.
Are there ads on your box? When I got digital cable from my cable co (which I cancled because the boxes were terrible, not that their service was ever any better) were filled with little ads. Yet I still got to pay them for the privilage of using the box. No ads all over my TiVo, just one off a link on the "home" screen that you never have to visit (and they are cool ads too, video and you can push a button to have literature deleiverd straight to your house if you want).
Last of all, cost? You complain about cost? Ignoring how much cable costs and how they like to raise their rates, a DirecTiVo is superior to a generic cable company PVR and is cheaper. If you are a new customer, you can get a three room system including one TiVo for FREE. Box cost, $0. The DVR Charge on the bill is $7, no matter how many TiVos you have. Not $7 per box, $7 total. Don't want a DirecTiVo? You can get a TiVo for $50, not the $250 you say (that would be a top of the line box with hundreds of hours of space). Let's review.
DirecTiVo (possibly best of all SD TiVos):
box = $0 (plus 2 free DirecTV recievers, worth about $100 total)
service = $7/mo
Cable Co
box = $0
service = $10
$3 cheaper per month (and I'm guess you pay $10 PER BOX, so if you got more than one it's even better). The box costs the same. You OWN the box. The UI rules. Record TWO SHOWS AT ONCE.
It's not greed. If you had used a TiVo for a month (free trial dude, give it a try) you would be more than willing to pay them that fee. They are not being greedy. I bet most people with TiVos would gladly pay more (I know I'd pay over $20).
Your right. My TiVo is cheaper, I OWN it, almost certanly better UI, I can record two things at once, and more. Why the hell would anyone want a TiVo when your cable company gives you a worse deal?
That said, I don't think there is a lifetime service option for the DirecTiVo.
Who needs a tent when you can have your own little room?
I'd like to comment on this. About a year ago (maybe more) I messed around with MythTV on an old (and too slow) Linux box. It was fun and I learned a lot by reading the mailing lists (they were trying to figure out how to block commercials at the time). I love messing with things, and I would love to be able to hack MythTV. After a while I gave up for two reasons: hardware (mine was too slow, didn't want to pay for better hardware at that time for a little side project) and interest (it was fun, but after a while I lost interest).
Later that year (about one year ago now) I got a DirecTiVo. I don't like monthly payments, because often I feel like I'm getting ripped off. I have to say that the $5 a month I pay for my DirecTiVo (yep, cheaper than stand alone) is well worth it. I'd pay $20, easy. One of the reasons that I went with a TiVo was the "plug in and enjoy" factor. At the end of the day, I had stuff to do and I just wanted a tool I could use without having to tweek all the time. Even if you LIKE constantly tinkering with your stuff (as I do in some circumstances, like my PC), you owe it to yourself to get a TiVo over a MythTV box. The interface is just so perfect. It works just so well. It's not just something that does what it should (like a VCR), it doesn't it's job amazingly well. I don't think I've ever had a product that went so high above my expectations. And if you considder that my brother already had a TiVo (same house as me, so I've used it) and I had read all the great stuff here on Slashdot, I didn't know that was possible. It IS that good.
Note that while a TiVo may be great, a DirecTiVo is to die for. Just like a TiVo (same interface, technology, etc), except that you have TWO tuners, so you can record TWO shows at once (take that NBC who wants to start shows 1 minute off the hour to screw up TiVos, I can record your shows ANYWAYS). It's fantastic. Not only that, but it's all pure digital (straight off the sat) so all the channels look just like they would if you used a normal sat box, and EVERYTHING gets recorded with the signal (that means it stores the Dolby Digital tracks from movies on Showtime and such) which is great.
I have owned many consumer electronic devices, some work great (my VCRs are all fine), but some are terrible. I owned a Digital Cable box from my cable company (Comcrud) and it was terrible. Slow to change channels, slow to show the guide, slow to do anything, and it would crash. Best of all not only did I have to pay extra to rent the box, THEY PUT ADS ALL OVER THE USER INTERFACE FOR IT. It seems that as technology gets more complex, it gets harder to make things "just work". TiVo has got it right. Please support them and try out an awesome product (you have no idea how much your chained to TV schedules untill you don't have to care anymore).
Do all the computers (or even most) really need to be able to install applications and such? Is that really neccessary? Lock them down! Lock them down TIGHT so the users can't install stuff. Lock out all internet access (through a proxy or something) for any computer/user that doesn't need it for their job. Use something like Ghost or DeepFreeze to restore computers nightly/weekly/whever there is a problem. That way, even if something DOES get installed, it will be gone when the computer is re-imaged over the LAN (overnight, perhaps).
And don't forget the users. Not only do they need to be educated, but put some kind of penalties on them for getting spyware installed. Give them one "warning", then after that start doing things. They lose internet (if possible), they get docked a little pay/vacation time/sick days, something. You'd obviously have to talk to a lawyer to make sure it's legal and such, but when it becomes the user's problem too, they'll care a lot more. Another great suggestion is this. Is there some kind of message of the day or builten board or something? Post the names of repeat offenders on it for a few days after each incedent. That kind of publicity can work too (again, make sure it's worded in a way that can't get you in trouble, check with the law guys).
Through removing unneccessary premissions, restoring the OS, and just plain old humiliation... you can make your spyware life easier.
But if you see the name Linus an "Leenus", then you naturally go to "leenux".
That said, people in the US have been brainwashed to pronouce the name "leye-nus" for over 50 years by the comic strip "Peanuts". I never knew there WAS any other way to pronouce that name until after I got into Linux and heard Linus pronounce his name.
I assume most Finnish people pronounce it the way he does.
It's just based on how you pronouce the name "Linus" by default.
Second is you can get little 640x480 displays on the surplus market that are about the right size (the screens that go in those little LCDs for the consoles). Look around on the Hard|Forums (HardOCP's forums) and you'll find people who have put such things in their cases (might even find guides on how to do it!) These things usually take a standard RCA video input too. That's another thing. Find a LCD you like, and build a frame. Some of those frames (like the one for the PSOne or XBox) are wider than they need to be for asthetic reasons. As for the speakers, you can always attach two little speakers above/below the display or on top of the computer and have 'em "fold down" to the sides of the PC for use.
Third, and possibly most important, is rotation. Have you considered that? If you mount the display on a little thing that would allow you to rotate it 90 degrees for storage (and maybe let you fold it down), then instead of being limited to 8" of width, you could be limited to 8" of height. That means instead of a 8"x6" display (frame included that's 10"), you could have a 10.6"x8" display (frame included that's 13.3"). That is a whole extra 3.3" of screen space, which might make viewing easier. But making the pivot and such (probably mounted at the corner of the display) might not be easy (unless you can find a pre-made one used for something else you can "borrow").
The main question is, switching to Windows from what?
If I have a PPC and I have to run Linux, I might switch. I REALLY like Linux, but the fact is that Windows "just works" a little bit more, and while I do most of my gaming on consoles, if the games appeared, I would seriously look at buying a copy. For all our complaining, Windows does have a lot going for it. I could always dual boot anyways. A true copy of Office could come in handy.
If I have a PPC and it's a Mac with OS X... I don't see why ANYONE would. It's got the great design of the Mac and stability and CLI goodness of Unix. And OS X already HAS Office, so that point is moot. The only thing that I could think of would be the games, and Apple could push more on that (better hardware (GFX cards not 6-12 months behind x86) would help). Dual boot, MAYBE.
From Linux, decent chance. From OS X, nope.
That's how I see it.
I've seen this many times before, here on /. too, and it makes me sick. It's not like he was an incumbent that was so bad he lost to a dead guy (which would be one thing). He was the challenger. He lost to a very popular man who died VERY shortly before the election. They couldn't change the ballot. Some (many?) people saw voting for him as a way to honor his memory.
Now I'm not going to pretend to know whether Mel Carnahand, a.k.a. "the dead guy", was good or not. I won't pretend to know whether his wife (who got the seat he won) is any good. I don't live in Missouri so it doesn't effect me personally. But if you are going to pick on someone you don't like for political reasons... GROW UP and do it in a more mature way (like with real, relevant facts). "He must be dum and abizmul at his job 'cause he lost to a dead guy! Ha ha ha". Grow up. Have a little respect.
And it wouldn't matter if Ashcroft was a good AG (I'm not saying he is or isn't). Chances are he would be replaced with the change of administration anyway.
Their target audience may be "older and more sophisticated" with more discresionary income, but if they try anything over $250 they're dead.
And I hope they do good with battery life (I trust they will). I'm not expecting the 20 hours a GBA can deliver, but they don't want to be the next GameGear (man did those things eat batteries!). But since the battery is internal and can't be swapped out (according to everything I've seen), when it's dead, it's dead (can't put new ones in like you could with the GameGear); so that's even worse.
First is... we controll their cashflow. They can push and push, but one day they'll push so far that the average Joe starts to see it and rebel (already started some with people unable to copy their "CDs" to their iPods). And when they are spending tons on lawyers and it is only driving down their cash flow by pissing off consumers, that's a recipy for their death. Too bad that probably won't happen any time soon.
Second is that with at least the buzzwords of the day don't really apply. I mean, how high do you have to be to think that copying your legal CD to your iPod or watching a movie on your TV (God forbid!) is "terrorism" or that it's "patriotism" to not be allowed to tape a TV show?
I was refering to people complaining about it being opressive and unfair, when I (and many others) see no problem (or even appriciate it). It's not like they are censoring viewpoints or such.
And "slippery slope". I know. I know.
But Sirrius is direct. It isn't a broadcast that anyone can pick up, they must have a subscription. So the FCC can't regulate them any more than they can the Playboy channel (and maybe not even then, since I don't think any of their laws mention sat-radio). If you have sat-radio, you are over 18 or have a parent who knows that stuff is on there who is supposed to be responsible (in theory).
So in short, no, I don't think the FCC can touch Sirrius or XM.
OK, that out of the way, here is how I see it. First of all, it's a very novel solution to this whole "FCC is censoring people" stuff (which I don't believe, but that's a matter of opinon). I never would have thought of that. I wonder if any other shock jocks follow suit. Makes sense though. XM has a Playboy channel (I have no idea what's on it), so obviously they aren't subject to those kinds of fines. I wonder how substantially his program will change now that he's free to say and do whatever he wants. And I wonder if Sirrius will have any kind of limits or leash on what he can do.
As for moving to Sirrus, they've got to love that. As the article says, their stock jumped 15%. While I've never listened to Stern, the fact that I know who he is without having to read an article or something like that says he's popular (or contravertial, but in this case both). I bet this will do some great things for Sirrus's membership (although it might drive a few away on idological grounds, but I doubt more than a handfull). I have to wonder if there was any kind of bidding war between Sirrus and XM (which my family has a subscription to). I would think having a radio celeb go sat-radio only would be something XM would have liked to be a part of. This should also lend an air of credibility to the idea of sat-radio, if a big star did this.
On a side note, YRO never seems to have anything to do with Online any more. Why not just rename it "Your Rights"? Just a thought. Don't bother commenting on this part.
Sure things would have gotten better. The question is much longer were you willing to put up with spyware and how much worse would it have gotten before it got better.
Like I said, I don't think he's had any dealing with spyware infecitons, because if he had I don't see how he could vote against this (even with those principals) unless his stance is pure free-market (no governement regulations, EVER on ANYTHING), which I would disagree with.
That said, I don't see how anyone thought this was a serious issue, or that by electing Bush we would be bringing back the draft (as has been insinuated by some small groups, not the DNC as far as I know). First off was the small problem that... the president can't reinstate the draft, it would take congress (you know, that silly checks and balances thing).
My second question would be (this is to those who said the draft would be reinstated)... why? What political purpose would it serve (besides increasing troop numbers)? I would piss off your voters, it would mean more wealthy people in the service (aren't republicans supposed to do things to FAVOR the wealthy?). The idea has never made sense to me.
Lets face it. Bringing back the draft has NO support. With the exception of a crackpot here or there, I would expect France to try to annex the US before I would expect the draft to have a real chance at comming back.
I'd also like to thank /. for pointing out that the only representatives pushing this were democrats. Whenever I've heard activists saying Bush would bring back the draft, they always fail to mention that part. Also note that CBS was snookered again the other day when they had some lady crying about how Bush would bring back the draft and her son would go get killed in Iraq. It turned out she was a known anti-Bush activist.
This was never a serious issue (in that it was not where near likely), but it has been interesting in the way of seeing how fast an urban legend can take hold. I heard a story (about a week ago) about a kid who convinced a friend to shoot him in the foot so he wouldn't get drafted. Then when he was at the hospital, it was pointed out to him that there was no draft.
How could two kids (they must have been high-school aged if they were worried about being drafted) not know there was no draft in the first place?
--End Mini-Rant---
That said, he must not have a computer at home that he has to take care of. Any computers he uses must be monitored by IT professional. Becasue as much as I respect that philosophy, I don't see how anyone who has had to deal with spyware couldn't vote against it.
It's a Sanyo 8200.
With all the predictions of "GPS on your phone will let them send you targeted ads" that I seem to see every once in a while, this is kind of cool. Does anyone know of any other programs like this? Wouldn't it be interesting to be able to see how many car accidents happen each year at the intersection your closest to, or what nationality the neighborhood your in is (based on the various kinds of restraunts near you, maybe). Anyone have any neat ideas for this kind of thing?
As a side note, does anyone know of a program that I could get for my phone (Java/J2ME) that would let me view it's GPS data (my location)? For some reason "they" don't want me to know where I am.