FOXNEWS is known for sensationalizing just about everything. I just watched Sean "Puffy" Combs' attorney being interviewed by O'Riley. O'Riley spent the entire five minutes trying to get the attorney to say something bad about the N.Y. city police department. The P.D. is not the issue, what happened in Sean's particular case is. O'Riley seemed uninterested in hearing about the matter, he wanted dirt. He didn't get any.
As for sensationalism: look at the picture of Al Gore in the Fundraising article. That's just offensive.
It would be nice if they would do some real reporting for once. Emails from 1996 don't concern me much.
Parts of the DCMA do not come into effect yet, like the requirements that all consumer electronic devices capable of data duplication include hardware to stop it.
You can read more about a specific instance of this in the Go-Video's FAQs.
Can I use my Dual-Deck(TM) VCR to make copies of copy-protected tapes?
Go-Video Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs contain our patented "AmeriChrome" technology and proprietary software which allows a near-identical copy to be made from an original VHS tape. Some pre-recorded tapes contain anticopying signals that take advantage of single deck VCR design weaknesses, causing single deck VCRs to make poor or unusable copies of videotapes. Go-Video Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs are not normally affected by these signals.
All VCRs, including the Dual-Deck(TM) VCR, are affected by Federal legislation that was passed in October 1998, commonly referred to as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. One of the effects of this new law requires that all VCRs sold after April 28th 2000 recognize a type of anticopying signal that prevents consumers from making a usable copy of videotapes encoded with that type of anticopying signal.
We have modified our current models of Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs so that if they are purchased prior to April 28th 2000, they will continue to operate as originally designed for the lifetime of the VCR. If they are purchased after April 2000, they will recognize and respond to the anticopying signal as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Owners of Go-Video Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs are not required to have their units modified as a result of this law and can continue to enjoy their Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs for the unit's lifetime.
USB never reaches close to 12 Mbit/sec (theoretical max). For tiny portables with only a USB link, this might be nice. No modem accessory required. For instance, the Palm. Use this USB connector to sync with your desktop & get on the 'Net at (relatively) high speeds. You can be certain USB will become standard on portables of all stripes, so it is a semi-useful feature. Then again, why not place an ethernet port on the little tikes.
I wouldn't be surprised to start hearing UFO sitings based on the number of pictures which occur during partial daylight and the orb (flattened-circle) shape of the flares. Of course, such cover could give good camouflage for real UFOs.
The Iridium Flash effect occurs when a great idea for a worldwide product flashes onto the scene, allowing people who want to have the best of everything spend more money. In a flash of bright light, the idea burns out leaving behind an armada of outrageously expensive technology orbiting the earth.
According to this article in Sailing Source, the last link: tells you where and when to look for IRIDIUM satellite "flashes" as the sun reflects light off the satellites passing overhead. You plug in your lat/long position and it will tell you where and when in the night or predawn sky to look to see an Iridium "flash."
Some people call them flares apparently to differentiate from meteor flashes.
The reason satellites are made of highly reflective materials is so they reflect the sunlight and not gather heat, sort of like a car baking in the hot sun. I imagine there *are* some coating materials which would reduce the glare and imagine that so far, there has been little reason to use them.
But remember that the Iridium "flare" is the reflection from the solar panels, which cannot be covered so easily as with some kind of paint.
... [read page to get context]...
That's an attractive but malicious thought, Lew! While we can think and talk of that amongst ourselves, I shudder to think of the child wanting to take his telescope into the back yard some night and Mom objects, saying that watching the sky is "evil" because she has no idea of the difference between a meteor flash and an Iridium flare!
"To the few who love me and whom I love-to those who seek rather than to those who think-to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in the only realities-I offer this book of truths . . .."
-- the Preface to Eureka
POE, EDGAR ALLAN. EUREKA: A PROSE POEM. New York: Putnam, 1848. Original black cloth. Binding A. Some wear to cloth, small chip from spine. A near fine, untouched copy. Cloth case.
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, without the review for Eureka on page 2 of the 16 pp catalogue. This is a nice copy of a book which is almost always encountered in unsatisfactory condition.
Poe considered Eureka his magnum opus. Putnam recalled that Poe visited him "with a somewhat nervous and agitated manner" and proposed a first edition of 50,000 copies. Putnam agreed to publish 500 copies. Eureka has often been misunderstood and ridiculed, but it is in fact a remarkable precursor of several modern theories of physics and a powerful essay on the material and spiritual universe.
Intel is not the only multi-national business peeking around.
The cool thing is that the site says that they can use the systems for whatever they want
Not cool that this applies only when the U.S. government says the use is okay. Corporate and censorship special interest groups seem especially keen on limiting us through our government.
(Thanks, Travoltus, I really enjoyed your rebuttal. Refreshingly concise.)
I like your.sig, it applies pretty much to everything.
The Internet could allow a 'people' power to actually work.
With the Internet, voting occurs quickly and could, potentially, ooccur on a much broader level. Rather than candidates representing issues, we could put the issues themselves up to vote by the people. On the local level, this referedum-style voting occurs quite often, but what about on the national level? Assuming we can avoid the balloting process being inappropriately influenced by special interests or others (a fully secure and accurate voting system [fantasy makes interesting fodder]), then the only consideration I can see at the national level would be whether a fuller voting populace voting on specific issues is a good thing. Gets into an area which inhibits innovation: "if it's not completely broke, why try to fix it". Maybe everyone being able to vote could lead to bad things? (Innapropriate influence is very difficult to minimize and define.)
So let's change topics for a second. The open-source ethic seemes to have spontaneously come into existence at the present level (without giving specific credit, though it's due). When open-source works, open-source propagates. Making a fundamental change to our country's political system could yield the same pleasing results. It could be that the people power would work self-correctingly. When a failure did occur, the dissemination of current and plentiful information via the Internet could ignite people into further political action to efficiently fix the problem. In some ways, this would represent a higher level of consciousness being conferred upon the nation. An optimally-efficient and optimally-full participation by the people might equal real consciousness. As a pleasant side-effect, the fourth branch could allow the nation to coalesce into an organic being with self-awareness. (Of course, we as indivuals would be unaware of it, as we are now).
In a complete meltdown, the people--the system itself--would vote to disband the power, until it is again needed.
Such an innovation does take a lot of faith in the people and our nation as a whole.
I'm not a history buff, so these ideas probably mirrors other political systems (the present one included). The Internet, however, would be an extra ingredient. To my limited knowlege, the base of the our current constitution could also make the experiment somewhat unique.
This any-level voting on law idea fascinates (me). The sum is greater than its parts theme continues to appear when considering it. The people actually in power, I feel subversive for even thinking about it.:/ -- Better when it's free.
We need a way to remove laws. The two ways in place, the executive branch and judicial branch do not have enough scope because of their time, resource, and power limitations.
Yes, the President can veto laws but his veto is invariably a political move and without the line-item veto (wasn't this struck down?) not tailored enough to effect specific change. Many other tasks also keep the president busy and not perpetually vetoing legislation (though it may seem otherwise and his veto can be over-ridden).
Yes, the Supreme Court can strike down laws, but ONLY when the law is deemed un-constitutional; unfortunately, much bad legislation satisfies constitutionality. The Supreme court is also subject to various political considerations concerning its makeup and appointed by party-affiliated presidents. And, the Supreme Court can only hear so many cases per year which have to be brought by a concerned party with the resources to do so.
The addition of another branch dedicated to the removal of unnecessary, contradictory, overly-complex, and vaguely-crafted legislation could do wonders. I think to some degree Congress does takes on this role when a new law supercedes a previous law, but this does not happen regularly enough and it entails the creation of new law which defeats the purpose of reducing, rather than adding, to the body of law.
Any constitutional or legislative scholars out there? My arm chair is becoming worn.
It's not the same thing. Laws exist on a much higher level. They have jurisdiction over what we do in our everyday lives. Programs have jurisdiction only over what happens inside my computer and over the various output mechanisms of the computer, printer, screen, and, to a much lesser degree (usually), other computers hooked up via network. A law can affect what I can or cannot do on my computer, much like a program. A computer program cannot affect the jurisdiction of law. Propagating DeCSS may defy the law, but the law remains and is not changed by mere defiance (though it's a good start!). The mechanisms of law and programming may be similar, but they are not the same thing due to the scope and application.
By your and everyone else on this thread's logic, Andover.Net would have to compete with another company called Andover.Com which comes into the market well after them selling the same goods and services. It does not work that way. Trademark law does not allow for name theft within the same market. And, yes,.com is an industry standard suffix and Andover is a geographical region the United States post office delivers to. What's your point again?
Jealousy is an emotion for the weak. If you have something useful to contribute, then do. Otherwise, avoid hitting the Submit button. We don't need anymore trolling around here.
OT to Troll, On-Topic to Lord Omlette: I agree with what you are saying. We'll have to wait and see how good the movie is. I suspect it will be compelling enough that the lack of interactivity will more than be made up for by the story, theme, characters, and special effects. Plus, the movie will be fully Dolby, if not THX, sound on a giant screen with huge speakers and comfy seats (well, I guess it depends on where you see it).
Another thought, Dragon's Lair and Dragon's Lair II: TimeWarp were released again as DvD's by Digital Leisure Inc. These two discs contain the whole movie tracks from the original two games. You can play interactively from your regular DVD player hooked up to your TV using the DVD remote control as the joystick. No game machine or console necessary. It works using just your DVD player (hopefully purchased before the MPAA started getting nasty).
So the idea is that an interactive DVD version of the movie could be made (ot: hey let's create open-source versions of DVDs sans license fees called ODVs) whose action sequences the viewer controls in the comfort of their own home using the remote. Add on the NUON chip to your player & things could really get rocking. Someone want to add to this idea?
I'm not planning on becoming a Troll. I'm pointing out that bad moderation helps no one and can conceivably lead to more Trolls rather than less (barring those strange Trolls who actually like negative karma).
What is M2? Does that stand for meta-moderation?
I have emailed CmdrTaco before about bad moderation without success so now I usually append a message to my thread pointing out that I believe the moderation to have been done incorrectly. As we all know these things are very subjective so I can see why CmdrTaco is reluctant to change someone else's mod.
I think what happened is that I posted at +2 and was mod'd down to +1 Troll and then, after making my argument, some kind soul took me back up to +2 by giving me an under-rated mod.
About meta-mod'ing, I have had a perfectly reasonable post with straight-forward argumentation, analysis, and links to other pages with more info, downgraded as Over-rated (from +1 to 0) even though *no* moderation had yet taken place on the post. That is a way to get around being penalized for bad moderation, because, AFAIK, meta-moderators do not have any consequences for mis-meta-moderating.
For the record, I did not Troll and do not consider the above a Troll by any stretch of the imagination. Conjecturing on governmental conspiracy concerning SETI infastructure use may offend a few who cannot see another way of looking at things as having value. I thought what I wrote was a fun, and intentionally paranoid, extension of the post I was responding to. I cannot call that a Troll.
I still stand by my original assertion. VA has been around since '93 and HA has been around much longer as an acronym, but that does not mean Motorola can jump in and take a name which is so confusingly similar to an established company in the industry.
I live in Vancouver, but that does not mean I will release a VAN Linux distro.
If you cannot be anonymous on the Internet, the government has a much easier time monitoring you. Anonymity is necessary for privacy. Anonymity is necessary to avoid government monitoring.
I see what you are saying, but the issue of Internet anonymity leads directly to the issue of government monitoring, particularly when the government is the one advocating an end to anonymity.
I am very disturbed by the name. HA Linux is an obvious rip-off of VA Linux System's name for its variant distro. I am concerned because moving into the big leagues means dealing with more unethical competitive behavior from the corporate vultures. I love my G4 chip but that doesn't mean I'm going to give Motorola free reign to banish competition by stealing their name.
Read the article on the.mp3 player before you make fun of the idea. Sony may need to be boycotted if they don't take inter-operability seriously and keep funding the MPAA and RIAA legal assaults on under-funded Internet users.
Howard Stringer, Sony America's president, has called PlayStation 2 the "Trojan horse" that will bring the Sony network home. PlayStation 2 could serve as a central node of the Sony home network - particularly if sales of the new system approach the numbers of the original PlayStation. Even at its reported high price of ¥45,000 (US$380) in Japan, it could serve as an excellent "entry system" - marketing parlance for introduction to the brand. The PlayStation 2 can be connected via modem, cable modem, or i.Link to the Net, and by i.Link and Sony's Memory Stick to other digital devices. Plus, because it uses the Memory Stick, it needn't be upgraded to function as a PC.
i.Link is the same as FireWire and IEEE 1394 except i.Link lacks the 2 wires which transmit power to devices. Otherwise, i.Link communicates and acts in the same way, 400 Mbit/s, hot-swappable, and up to 63 devices per bus. I think the reference to a Sony network is more that Sony would like to be the one who sells PS2 owners Internet access. Sony would also like you to buy other Sony devices for your home to hook up with the PS2, but since i.Link is merely a marketing name for an International standard whose specifications are open to all, you will be able to hook up whatever you want. That's my interpretation. FireWire is cool.
Sony's Japanese site tested fifteen Playstation games on the Playstation 2 in order to see exactly what is flawed with the PS2's backwards compatibility. Sony picked a lot of Japan-only titles, but some notable (and random) flaws include the following:
In some titles after loading from the memory card the previous screen's image remains on the screen, overlaying the entire game.
Some titles, like Gradius Deluxe Pack, experience major slowdown throughout the entire title.
After exiting a menu or a part of a game, some sounds might continue playing.
In one RPG, the dungeon maps would not display on screen.
In Wing Commander III, the animation starts looping until an error message appears on the screen and the game freezes.
Gallop Racer, a very popular Japanese title from Tecmo, doesn't display many screens including the race times after an event.
In some strategy titles the wrong menus come up, or a menu will pop up at a random time in mid-battle.
In some games sound effects and background music won't even play at all.
Some repeat offenses included the image overlay problems, memory card bugs, and general sound screwups. If this is just a random sample of fifteen titles, imagine what will happen with the over 2600 other titles out there.
Will it be backward compatible with all older PlayStation games?
Yes, the PlayStation 2 will be able to play original PlayStation games. Because the system's I/O (input/output) processor is essentially the core (main processor) of the original PlayStation, the system will use this processor to insure backward compatibility with all existing PlayStation games. Sony will most likely continue to institute the territorial lockout to make sure that only US PlayStation 2s play original US PlayStation games.
Answers to questions as to whether or not the PlayStation 2 will "enhance" original games with effects like a high-resolution mode and texture filtering has been answered. Sony has said that the system will not enhance PlayStation games, but rather play them in their original look, speed and context.
I wish I had a complete list, but I do not. I looked on Sony's Playstation website and could find no mention of incompatibility. The available information seems intentionally ambiguous when Sony could just test all the games and let us know. I wonder why Sony does not let us know?
When someone marks something like the above as Troll, then people like me feel a little upset. It is not a Troll and yet I've been labelled a Troll anyways. This leads me to wonder: perhaps the reason some of the/. Trolls exist, particularly the more prolific ones, is because they had tried to contribute to the discussion around here in a sincere manner but someone came along and marked them down as Troll simply because they didn't agree with the ideas being presented. If people are going to call you Troll when you are not, then why not become a Troll. You get to enjoy the thing for which you are being criticized.
Slashdot Mirror
FOXNEWS is known for sensationalizing just about everything. I just watched Sean "Puffy" Combs' attorney being interviewed by O'Riley. O'Riley spent the entire five minutes trying to get the attorney to say something bad about the N.Y. city police department. The P.D. is not the issue, what happened in Sean's particular case is. O'Riley seemed uninterested in hearing about the matter, he wanted dirt. He didn't get any.
As for sensationalism: look at the picture of Al Gore in the Fundraising article. That's just offensive.
It would be nice if they would do some real reporting for once. Emails from 1996 don't concern me much.
Parts of the DCMA do not come into effect yet, like the requirements that all consumer electronic devices capable of data duplication include hardware to stop it.
You can read more about a specific instance of this in the Go-Video's FAQs.
Can I use my Dual-Deck(TM) VCR to make copies of copy-protected tapes?
Go-Video Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs contain our patented "AmeriChrome" technology and proprietary software which allows a near-identical copy to be made from an original VHS tape. Some pre-recorded tapes contain anticopying signals that take advantage of single deck VCR design weaknesses, causing single deck VCRs to make poor or unusable copies of videotapes. Go-Video Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs are not normally affected by these signals.
All VCRs, including the Dual-Deck(TM) VCR, are affected by Federal legislation that was passed in October 1998, commonly referred to as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. One of the effects of this new law requires that all VCRs sold after April 28th 2000 recognize a type of anticopying signal that prevents consumers from making a usable copy of videotapes encoded with that type of anticopying signal.
We have modified our current models of Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs so that if they are purchased prior to April 28th 2000, they will continue to operate as originally designed for the lifetime of the VCR. If they are purchased after April 2000, they will recognize and respond to the anticopying signal as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Owners of Go-Video Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs are not required to have their units modified as a result of this law and can continue to enjoy their Dual-Deck(TM) VCRs for the unit's lifetime.
USB never reaches close to 12 Mbit/sec (theoretical max). For tiny portables with only a USB link, this might be nice. No modem accessory required. For instance, the Palm. Use this USB connector to sync with your desktop & get on the 'Net at (relatively) high speeds. You can be certain USB will become standard on portables of all stripes, so it is a semi-useful feature. Then again, why not place an ethernet port on the little tikes.
For those wanting instant gratification, here's a bunch of pictures of Iridium flares:
Iridium Flare Photos - Part 1
Iridium Flare Photos - Part 2
I wouldn't be surprised to start hearing UFO sitings based on the number of pictures which occur during partial daylight and the orb (flattened-circle) shape of the flares. Of course, such cover could give good camouflage for real UFOs.
The Iridium Flash effect occurs when a great idea for a worldwide product flashes onto the scene, allowing people who want to have the best of everything spend more money. In a flash of bright light, the idea burns out leaving behind an armada of outrageously expensive technology orbiting the earth.
... [read page to get context] ...
Seriously, though, check out Observing Iridium Flashes and Heavens Above (as someone already mentioned).
According to this article in Sailing Source, the last link: tells you where and when to look for IRIDIUM satellite "flashes" as the sun reflects light off the satellites passing overhead. You plug in your lat/long position and it will tell you where and when in the night or predawn sky to look to see an Iridium "flash."
Some people call them flares apparently to differentiate from meteor flashes.
The reason satellites are made of highly reflective materials is so they reflect the sunlight and not gather heat, sort of like a car baking in the hot sun. I imagine there *are* some coating materials which would reduce the glare and imagine that so far, there has been little reason to use them.
But remember that the Iridium "flare" is the reflection from the solar panels, which cannot be covered so easily as with some kind of paint.
That's an attractive but malicious thought, Lew! While we can think and talk of that amongst ourselves, I shudder to think of the child wanting to take his telescope into the back yard some night and Mom objects, saying that watching the sky is "evil" because she has no idea of the difference between a meteor flash and an Iridium flare!
Published the year before his death.
l s/FullRecord?WebID=1243
."
http://www.19thcenturyshop.com/cgi-bin/VisitorToo
"To the few who love me and whom I love-to those who seek rather than to those who think-to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in the only realities-I offer this book of truths . . .
-- the Preface to Eureka
POE, EDGAR ALLAN. EUREKA: A PROSE POEM. New York: Putnam, 1848. Original black cloth. Binding A. Some wear to cloth, small chip from spine. A near fine, untouched copy. Cloth case.
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, without the review for Eureka on page 2 of the 16 pp catalogue. This is a nice copy of a book which is almost always encountered in unsatisfactory condition.
Poe considered Eureka his magnum opus. Putnam recalled that Poe visited him "with a somewhat nervous and agitated manner" and proposed a first edition of 50,000 copies. Putnam agreed to publish 500 copies. Eureka has often been misunderstood and ridiculed, but it is in fact a remarkable precursor of several modern theories of physics and a powerful essay on the material and spiritual universe.
I have assuredly found an admirable resolution to this, but the margin is too narrow to contain it.
And perhaps, posterity will thank me for having shown it that the ancients did not know everything.
Intel is not the only multi-national business peeking around.
The cool thing is that the site says that they can use the systems for whatever they want
Not cool that this applies only when the U.S. government says the use is okay. Corporate and censorship special interest groups seem especially keen on limiting us through our government.
(Thanks, Travoltus, I really enjoyed your rebuttal. Refreshingly concise.)
Open source government, based on the idealism and, pleasantly, the functional reality of the open source movement.
I like your .sig, it applies pretty much to everything.
:/ -- Better when it's free.
The Internet could allow a 'people' power to actually work.
With the Internet, voting occurs quickly and could, potentially, ooccur on a much broader level. Rather than candidates representing issues, we could put the issues themselves up to vote by the people. On the local level, this referedum-style voting occurs quite often, but what about on the national level? Assuming we can avoid the balloting process being inappropriately influenced by special interests or others (a fully secure and accurate voting system [fantasy makes interesting fodder]), then the only consideration I can see at the national level would be whether a fuller voting populace voting on specific issues is a good thing. Gets into an area which inhibits innovation: "if it's not completely broke, why try to fix it". Maybe everyone being able to vote could lead to bad things? (Innapropriate influence is very difficult to minimize and define.)
So let's change topics for a second. The open-source ethic seemes to have spontaneously come into existence at the present level (without giving specific credit, though it's due). When open-source works, open-source propagates. Making a fundamental change to our country's political system could yield the same pleasing results. It could be that the people power would work self-correctingly. When a failure did occur, the dissemination of current and plentiful information via the Internet could ignite people into further political action to efficiently fix the problem. In some ways, this would represent a higher level of consciousness being conferred upon the nation. An optimally-efficient and optimally-full participation by the people might equal real consciousness. As a pleasant side-effect, the fourth branch could allow the nation to coalesce into an organic being with self-awareness. (Of course, we as indivuals would be unaware of it, as we are now).
In a complete meltdown, the people--the system itself--would vote to disband the power, until it is again needed.
Such an innovation does take a lot of faith in the people and our nation as a whole.
I'm not a history buff, so these ideas probably mirrors other political systems (the present one included). The Internet, however, would be an extra ingredient. To my limited knowlege, the base of the our current constitution could also make the experiment somewhat unique.
This any-level voting on law idea fascinates (me). The sum is greater than its parts theme continues to appear when considering it. The people actually in power, I feel subversive for even thinking about it.
I agree.
We need a way to remove laws. The two ways in place, the executive branch and judicial branch do not have enough scope because of their time, resource, and power limitations.
Yes, the President can veto laws but his veto is invariably a political move and without the line-item veto (wasn't this struck down?) not tailored enough to effect specific change. Many other tasks also keep the president busy and not perpetually vetoing legislation (though it may seem otherwise and his veto can be over-ridden).
Yes, the Supreme Court can strike down laws, but ONLY when the law is deemed un-constitutional; unfortunately, much bad legislation satisfies constitutionality. The Supreme court is also subject to various political considerations concerning its makeup and appointed by party-affiliated presidents. And, the Supreme Court can only hear so many cases per year which have to be brought by a concerned party with the resources to do so.
The addition of another branch dedicated to the removal of unnecessary, contradictory, overly-complex, and vaguely-crafted legislation could do wonders. I think to some degree Congress does takes on this role when a new law supercedes a previous law, but this does not happen regularly enough and it entails the creation of new law which defeats the purpose of reducing, rather than adding, to the body of law.
Any constitutional or legislative scholars out there? My arm chair is becoming worn.
It's not the same thing. Laws exist on a much higher level. They have jurisdiction over what we do in our everyday lives. Programs have jurisdiction only over what happens inside my computer and over the various output mechanisms of the computer, printer, screen, and, to a much lesser degree (usually), other computers hooked up via network. A law can affect what I can or cannot do on my computer, much like a program. A computer program cannot affect the jurisdiction of law. Propagating DeCSS may defy the law, but the law remains and is not changed by mere defiance (though it's a good start!). The mechanisms of law and programming may be similar, but they are not the same thing due to the scope and application.
By your and everyone else on this thread's logic, Andover.Net would have to compete with another company called Andover.Com which comes into the market well after them selling the same goods and services. It does not work that way. Trademark law does not allow for name theft within the same market. And, yes, .com is an industry standard suffix and Andover is a geographical region the United States post office delivers to. What's your point again?
Jealousy is an emotion for the weak. If you have something useful to contribute, then do. Otherwise, avoid hitting the Submit button. We don't need anymore trolling around here.
OT to Troll, On-Topic to Lord Omlette: I agree with what you are saying. We'll have to wait and see how good the movie is. I suspect it will be compelling enough that the lack of interactivity will more than be made up for by the story, theme, characters, and special effects. Plus, the movie will be fully Dolby, if not THX, sound on a giant screen with huge speakers and comfy seats (well, I guess it depends on where you see it).
Another thought, Dragon's Lair and Dragon's Lair II: TimeWarp were released again as DvD's by Digital Leisure Inc. These two discs contain the whole movie tracks from the original two games. You can play interactively from your regular DVD player hooked up to your TV using the DVD remote control as the joystick. No game machine or console necessary. It works using just your DVD player (hopefully purchased before the MPAA started getting nasty).
So the idea is that an interactive DVD version of the movie could be made (ot: hey let's create open-source versions of DVDs sans license fees called ODVs) whose action sequences the viewer controls in the comfort of their own home using the remote. Add on the NUON chip to your player & things could really get rocking. Someone want to add to this idea?
Choose your own adventure...
Choose your own fantasy...
What are the other companies in the certificate market?
Does Verisign own key patents or is there another reason it has market dominance?
Which gets me to the point: would there be any way to set-up an open-source-like business model for certificates which could compete with Verisign?
Cnet's News.com reported August 19 of last year: Motorola buys Metrowerks for $95 million. The Metrowerks homepage says:
CodeWarrior
Metrowerks
A Motorola Company
I'm not planning on becoming a Troll. I'm pointing out that bad moderation helps no one and can conceivably lead to more Trolls rather than less (barring those strange Trolls who actually like negative karma).
What is M2? Does that stand for meta-moderation?
I have emailed CmdrTaco before about bad moderation without success so now I usually append a message to my thread pointing out that I believe the moderation to have been done incorrectly. As we all know these things are very subjective so I can see why CmdrTaco is reluctant to change someone else's mod.
I think what happened is that I posted at +2 and was mod'd down to +1 Troll and then, after making my argument, some kind soul took me back up to +2 by giving me an under-rated mod.
About meta-mod'ing, I have had a perfectly reasonable post with straight-forward argumentation, analysis, and links to other pages with more info, downgraded as Over-rated (from +1 to 0) even though *no* moderation had yet taken place on the post. That is a way to get around being penalized for bad moderation, because, AFAIK, meta-moderators do not have any consequences for mis-meta-moderating.
For the record, I did not Troll and do not consider the above a Troll by any stretch of the imagination. Conjecturing on governmental conspiracy concerning SETI infastructure use may offend a few who cannot see another way of looking at things as having value. I thought what I wrote was a fun, and intentionally paranoid, extension of the post I was responding to. I cannot call that a Troll.
Why in the heck would I use flint for a spear tip? Bronze is a much better application.
I still stand by my original assertion. VA has been around since '93 and HA has been around much longer as an acronym, but that does not mean Motorola can jump in and take a name which is so confusingly similar to an established company in the industry.
I live in Vancouver, but that does not mean I will release a VAN Linux distro.
If you cannot be anonymous on the Internet, the government has a much easier time monitoring you. Anonymity is necessary for privacy. Anonymity is necessary to avoid government monitoring.
I see what you are saying, but the issue of Internet anonymity leads directly to the issue of government monitoring, particularly when the government is the one advocating an end to anonymity.
I am very disturbed by the name. HA Linux is an obvious rip-off of VA Linux System's name for its variant distro. I am concerned because moving into the big leagues means dealing with more unethical competitive behavior from the corporate vultures. I love my G4 chip but that doesn't mean I'm going to give Motorola free reign to banish competition by stealing their name.
Read the article on the .mp3 player before you make fun of the idea. Sony may need to be boycotted if they don't take inter-operability seriously and keep funding the MPAA and RIAA legal assaults on under-funded Internet users.
Excerpt from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.11/playstatio n.html:
Howard Stringer, Sony America's president, has called PlayStation 2 the "Trojan horse" that will bring the Sony network home. PlayStation 2 could serve as a central node of the Sony home network - particularly if sales of the new system approach the numbers of the original PlayStation. Even at its reported high price of ¥45,000 (US$380) in Japan, it could serve as an excellent "entry system" - marketing parlance for introduction to the brand. The PlayStation 2 can be connected via modem, cable modem, or i.Link to the Net, and by i.Link and Sony's Memory Stick to other digital devices. Plus, because it uses the Memory Stick, it needn't be upgraded to function as a PC.
i.Link is the same as FireWire and IEEE 1394 except i.Link lacks the 2 wires which transmit power to devices. Otherwise, i.Link communicates and acts in the same way, 400 Mbit/s, hot-swappable, and up to 63 devices per bus. I think the reference to a Sony network is more that Sony would like to be the one who sells PS2 owners Internet access. Sony would also like you to buy other Sony devices for your home to hook up with the PS2, but since i.Link is merely a marketing name for an International standard whose specifications are open to all, you will be able to hook up whatever you want. That's my interpretation. FireWire is cool.
COMPATIBILITY UPDATE ( http://www.sony-otaku.com/news/0200/021700/021700a .html):
Sony's Japanese site tested fifteen Playstation games on the Playstation 2 in order to see exactly what is flawed with the PS2's backwards compatibility. Sony picked a lot of Japan-only titles, but some notable (and random) flaws include the following:
In some titles after loading from the memory card the previous screen's image remains on the screen, overlaying the entire game.
Some titles, like Gradius Deluxe Pack, experience major slowdown throughout the entire title.
After exiting a menu or a part of a game, some sounds might continue playing.
In one RPG, the dungeon maps would not display on screen.
In Wing Commander III, the animation starts looping until an error message appears on the screen and the game freezes.
Gallop Racer, a very popular Japanese title from Tecmo, doesn't display many screens including the race times after an event.
In some strategy titles the wrong menus come up, or a menu will pop up at a random time in mid-battle.
In some games sound effects and background music won't even play at all.
Some repeat offenses included the image overlay problems, memory card bugs, and general sound screwups. If this is just a random sample of fifteen titles, imagine what will happen with the over 2600 other titles out there.
Here's a list of 15 games which do not work properly on PS2 ( http://ps2.ign.com/news/15350.html ):
Not Treasure Hunter
Gradius Deluxe Pack
Aidoru Promotion -Suzuki Yumie
Toua Plan Shooting Battle
Oukyuu No Hihou: Tension
Wing Commander III
Gallop Racer
Ongaku Tsukuuru: Kanadeeru 2
Monster Farm
Dragon Beat
Susume! Kaizoku
Tsuiridou Keiryu Kohen
Virtua Pachinko V
Virtua Pachinko EX
Konya Mo Senryobako! 2000
From IGN PSX2 FAQ's ( http://ps2.ign.com/news/14132.html ):
Will it be backward compatible with all older PlayStation games?
Yes, the PlayStation 2 will be able to play original PlayStation games. Because the system's I/O (input/output) processor is essentially the core (main processor) of the original PlayStation, the system will use this processor to insure backward compatibility with all existing PlayStation games. Sony will most likely continue to institute the territorial lockout to make sure that only US PlayStation 2s play original US PlayStation games.
Answers to questions as to whether or not the PlayStation 2 will "enhance" original games with effects like a high-resolution mode and texture filtering has been answered. Sony has said that the system will not enhance PlayStation games, but rather play them in their original look, speed and context.
I wish I had a complete list, but I do not. I looked on Sony's Playstation website and could find no mention of incompatibility. The available information seems intentionally ambiguous when Sony could just test all the games and let us know. I wonder why Sony does not let us know?
When someone marks something like the above as Troll, then people like me feel a little upset. It is not a Troll and yet I've been labelled a Troll anyways. This leads me to wonder: perhaps the reason some of the /. Trolls exist, particularly the more prolific ones, is because they had tried to contribute to the discussion around here in a sincere manner but someone came along and marked them down as Troll simply because they didn't agree with the ideas being presented. If people are going to call you Troll when you are not, then why not become a Troll. You get to enjoy the thing for which you are being criticized.