I'm fairly sure that the patent here is on the algorithm, not the code that implements it on any particular system. It's all part of the Fraunhoffer patent collection.
One little aspect, though, is that it's cost them a sale to me, and I surely can't be the only one.
I'm fairly sure that the box is aimed at getting people to switch from Windows, and nothing more. But irrespective of what the target audience is, I thought on the day of the announcement that it would make an excellent media box, and that it what I'd want one for.
If it had a digital out. Having loads of accessories hanging off the back completely ruins the point of it being a tiny little neat thing.
Oh well, I wouldn't be surprised if they either fix this at some point, or (even better) allow the optical out on the AirTunes to pass 5.1 from the DVD player.
I'd agree completely. In fact, I'd argue that the XBox is the _least_ appropriate for the hardcore gamer.
Any hardcore gamer will be needing a Cube for Super Monkey Ball, Ikaruga (unless they've got the Dreamcast version already), the Pikmin series and all those other games you mentioned.
Any gamer with a PS2 but no Gradius V or Rez should be forced to hand in their 'hardcore' card right now.
But there really isn't that much on the XBox for the hardcore in comparison. Panzer Dragoon Orta, Otogi, OutRun 2, and then I start struggling.
By the way, congratulations on those Harmonix titles - they're excellent.
If too many A&R guys just use this software, then the interesting new music won't get signed. If there are decent A&R guys working and they pick up the new good stuff, release it and it becomes big enough to appear on the radar, then it is classed as a "hit", and becomes a new data point on graph.
This already happens, though - witness the sheer number of blatently manufactured skatepunk bands that came out once a few of them had some chart success. Same for the Limp Bizkit crowd and hundreds of Norah Jones replicants.
Partly due to the fact that I'm in the UK, and your dollar is worth about half of sod all right now, but my Oakleys without even all the fancypants MP3 player cost more than that.
Oakley really do murder us glasses wearers that need prescription lenses. Particularly when you then go for the C-Wire and polarized lenses.
Still, they're really, really nice, and I don't plan on buying another pair in the next few years.
Since the only online retailer I'd use for purchasing music, Bleep, supplies them as unencrypted mp3s created using LAME's --alt-preset-standard setting, I don't care. Those work on iPods just fine.
Amusingly enough, I tried one on a friend's Creative MuVo last week. It played, but the timestamp was utterly confused by the variable bit-rate.
So while it is just possible that Creative can find a definition of 'major retailer' that makes their claim accurate, they don't work that well with any I'd frequent.
Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic...
on
Verizon vs. Europe
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· Score: 4, Insightful
I was considering blocking the entire IP range for the US, since I never get anything other than spam from there.
Is that a quote from something? It sounds really familiar, and I'm sure I'm going to kick myself about not getting the reference.
Alternatively, I could just be erroneously accusing you of plaigarism.;)
Re:So Hybrid cars will increase global warming?
on
BBC on Global Dimming
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· Score: 1
You've only got it half right. The programme showed that particulate pollution has had a cooling effect due to increased cloud albedo. CO2 still has its traditional warming effect as described time after time.
The problem is that we've started to do something about the particulate pollution from many sources, without cutting back the CO2 (and other greenhouse gases). Thereby causing the warming to increase, not decrease.
The whole premise of the programme, that the article was a transcript of, was that this factor of "Global Dimming" has meant that a rise in particulate pollution as increased cloud albedo.
Which means more light reflected back into space, and less reaching the ground. Which acts to lower temperatures, and counteracts much of the effects of greenhouse gas pollution.
The data from both September 2001 US and the study performed in the Maldives shows that a reduction of particulate pollution correlates to an increase in temperature. This in turn suggests that previous modelling of climate change that didn't take the effect into account has been underestimating the implications of dealing with particulate pollution without cutting back on CO2 emissions.
What pisses me off about that is that unless you hack your dlls, you can only used signed themes.
That, in itself, is understandable Microsoft paranoia; I'm sure you could configure themes that did evil things if you tried.
But have they released _any_ further themes or colours on the website at all? No. Loads of configurations available in classic mode, three legit ones in all the world for the new one. I'd have expected them to churn out new signed ones on a semi-regular basis, as tie-in advertising if nothing else. "Why not have your glowing green scheme to match your X-Box?" "Here is a nice new scheme for game Y" and so on.
Precisely. Every Grandparent I know uses their PC for most or all of the following:
a) Copying their vinyl to CD b) Working with the pictures from their digital still camera (backing up to CD, printing, editing) c) Doing equivalent things with video from their digital video camera (i.e. editing and writing to DVD) d) Family history stuff
Bringing computers to everyone's home was done long, long ago by the likes of Sinclair, Commodore and Atari. The 8-bit machines were ubiquitous a good decade before Windows 95 invaded homes.
Re:Missing a Key Movie - Office Space
on
Top 50 DVDs
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· Score: 1
The list is of well-presented DVDs, not good films. I love Office Space as much as the next geek, but the print is non-anamorphic and the only extra is a trailer.
Re:Did you have to be under 15 to vote?
on
Top 50 DVDs
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· Score: 1
I don't know of anywhere you can get the Akira tin now, sorry. Google can't track down a good pic, either. It sold out in the first week, years ago, but the contents are just the same as your 'normal' release.
Blade Runner is pretty poorly transferred, yes. The picture actually is anamorphic, but it's very grainy. It was actually the first disc Warners ever released in the US, so I'm not that surprised. A fancy 3-disc set with multiple cuts and the rather wonderful Mark Kermode documentary has been on-again, off-again for a couple of years, but there still isn't any sign of it yet.
As for Top Gun, it has just been re-released, complete with correct framing and a new DTS-ES mix; apparently it's well worth the upgrade.
Re:Did you have to be under 15 to vote?
on
Top 50 DVDs
·
· Score: 1
Maybe I'm just a jaded old person now. 2000 just seemed to be around the point where there were enough decent films, decently transferred to DVD, being released that the buying frenzy lots of us had for anything even vaguely watchable that could be used to show off DVD to our friends started to die down a bit.
Certainly, I don't think I'd ever buy anything quite as rubbish as Lost In Space or Godzilla again.
Mind you, if you think your copy of Akira was excessive, you've probably not seen the oversized tin box version that I imported from the US...
Re:Not hard to figure out why LoTR is #1.
on
Top 50 DVDs
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· Score: 1
Quite the reverse. The presentation of the workprint on Alien3 is a far superior film to the theatrical cut, and so the extras aren't just interesting from a 'how did they do that?' point of view, but a fascinating study in how Hollywood can produce a great film into the ground.
For 'how they made a masterpiece', just stick with Alien. Whose extras are even more interesting as you watch how they almost made exactly the same errors as 3 in some places.
Re:The Killer from Criterion Edition
on
Top 50 DVDs
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· Score: 1
The kind that loves to show off, is all. The transfer on the Criterion release isn't even quite as good as the cheapo Fox Lorber release, and the extras aren't really all that great either. Many, many other Criterion releases could take its place, if only the idea was to nominate the best disc presentation, rather than to brag about owning a rare DVD.
Besides, the whole thing is a pretty straight port of their laserdisc release, which even looked slightly better.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm fairly sure that the patent here is on the algorithm, not the code that implements it on any particular system. It's all part of the Fraunhoffer patent collection.
One little aspect, though, is that it's cost them a sale to me, and I surely can't be the only one.
I'm fairly sure that the box is aimed at getting people to switch from Windows, and nothing more. But irrespective of what the target audience is, I thought on the day of the announcement that it would make an excellent media box, and that it what I'd want one for.
If it had a digital out. Having loads of accessories hanging off the back completely ruins the point of it being a tiny little neat thing.
Oh well, I wouldn't be surprised if they either fix this at some point, or (even better) allow the optical out on the AirTunes to pass 5.1 from the DVD player.
That's what I was thinking. I've got 512Mb of PC2700 in my box that I need to add to at some point!
I'd agree completely. In fact, I'd argue that the XBox is the _least_ appropriate for the hardcore gamer.
Any hardcore gamer will be needing a Cube for Super Monkey Ball, Ikaruga (unless they've got the Dreamcast version already), the Pikmin series and all those other games you mentioned.
Any gamer with a PS2 but no Gradius V or Rez should be forced to hand in their 'hardcore' card right now.
But there really isn't that much on the XBox for the hardcore in comparison. Panzer Dragoon Orta, Otogi, OutRun 2, and then I start struggling.
By the way, congratulations on those Harmonix titles - they're excellent.
All this "OSX copied the Dock from Amiga" thing is fun. AmiDock was a straight ripoff from NeXTStep anyway.
Actually, no.
If too many A&R guys just use this software, then the interesting new music won't get signed. If there are decent A&R guys working and they pick up the new good stuff, release it and it becomes big enough to appear on the radar, then it is classed as a "hit", and becomes a new data point on graph.
This already happens, though - witness the sheer number of blatently manufactured skatepunk bands that came out once a few of them had some chart success. Same for the Limp Bizkit crowd and hundreds of Norah Jones replicants.
Partly due to the fact that I'm in the UK, and your dollar is worth about half of sod all right now, but my Oakleys without even all the fancypants MP3 player cost more than that.
Oakley really do murder us glasses wearers that need prescription lenses. Particularly when you then go for the C-Wire and polarized lenses.
Still, they're really, really nice, and I don't plan on buying another pair in the next few years.
Yes, the UK is included in the block - The Reg mention that they themselves are getting their emails to Verizon customers blocked, for example.
Apple need to learn that people don't like to be locked in.
Apple need to learn that people don't like to be locked in.
Apple need to start supporting WMP.
What???
Since the only online retailer I'd use for purchasing music, Bleep, supplies them as unencrypted mp3s created using LAME's --alt-preset-standard setting, I don't care. Those work on iPods just fine.
Amusingly enough, I tried one on a friend's Creative MuVo last week. It played, but the timestamp was utterly confused by the variable bit-rate.
So while it is just possible that Creative can find a definition of 'major retailer' that makes their claim accurate, they don't work that well with any I'd frequent.
I was considering blocking the entire IP range for the US, since I never get anything other than spam from there.
That would be bad enough as it was.
If you look at the screenshots of the three 'new' themes available, they are:
A Blue and Green primary colours one
A Sage one
A Silver one.
Ballmer, with these treats you are really spoiling us.
Is that a quote from something? It sounds really familiar, and I'm sure I'm going to kick myself about not getting the reference.
;)
Alternatively, I could just be erroneously accusing you of plaigarism.
You've only got it half right. The programme showed that particulate pollution has had a cooling effect due to increased cloud albedo. CO2 still has its traditional warming effect as described time after time.
The problem is that we've started to do something about the particulate pollution from many sources, without cutting back the CO2 (and other greenhouse gases). Thereby causing the warming to increase, not decrease.
The whole premise of the programme, that the article was a transcript of, was that this factor of "Global Dimming" has meant that a rise in particulate pollution as increased cloud albedo.
Which means more light reflected back into space, and less reaching the ground. Which acts to lower temperatures, and counteracts much of the effects of greenhouse gas pollution.
The data from both September 2001 US and the study performed in the Maldives shows that a reduction of particulate pollution correlates to an increase in temperature. This in turn suggests that previous modelling of climate change that didn't take the effect into account has been underestimating the implications of dealing with particulate pollution without cutting back on CO2 emissions.
And yet at the same time, the amount reaching the surface of the Earth has been going down.
Kind of adds to the claims in the programme that this is due to more of it being filtered or reflected before it gets there, wouldn't you say?
What pisses me off about that is that unless you hack your dlls, you can only used signed themes.
That, in itself, is understandable Microsoft paranoia; I'm sure you could configure themes that did evil things if you tried.
But have they released _any_ further themes or colours on the website at all? No. Loads of configurations available in classic mode, three legit ones in all the world for the new one. I'd have expected them to churn out new signed ones on a semi-regular basis, as tie-in advertising if nothing else. "Why not have your glowing green scheme to match your X-Box?" "Here is a nice new scheme for game Y" and so on.
Precisely. Every Grandparent I know uses their PC for most or all of the following:
a) Copying their vinyl to CD
b) Working with the pictures from their digital still camera (backing up to CD, printing, editing)
c) Doing equivalent things with video from their digital video camera (i.e. editing and writing to DVD)
d) Family history stuff
None of which this little box seems to do.
Or a Windows port right now. But hey, who's counting?
Bringing computers to everyone's home was done long, long ago by the likes of Sinclair, Commodore and Atari. The 8-bit machines were ubiquitous a good decade before Windows 95 invaded homes.
The list is of well-presented DVDs, not good films. I love Office Space as much as the next geek, but the print is non-anamorphic and the only extra is a trailer.
I don't know of anywhere you can get the Akira tin now, sorry. Google can't track down a good pic, either. It sold out in the first week, years ago, but the contents are just the same as your 'normal' release.
Blade Runner is pretty poorly transferred, yes. The picture actually is anamorphic, but it's very grainy. It was actually the first disc Warners ever released in the US, so I'm not that surprised. A fancy 3-disc set with multiple cuts and the rather wonderful Mark Kermode documentary has been on-again, off-again for a couple of years, but there still isn't any sign of it yet.
As for Top Gun, it has just been re-released, complete with correct framing and a new DTS-ES mix; apparently it's well worth the upgrade.
Maybe I'm just a jaded old person now. 2000 just seemed to be around the point where there were enough decent films, decently transferred to DVD, being released that the buying frenzy lots of us had for anything even vaguely watchable that could be used to show off DVD to our friends started to die down a bit.
Certainly, I don't think I'd ever buy anything quite as rubbish as Lost In Space or Godzilla again.
Mind you, if you think your copy of Akira was excessive, you've probably not seen the oversized tin box version that I imported from the US...
Quite the reverse. The presentation of the workprint on Alien3 is a far superior film to the theatrical cut, and so the extras aren't just interesting from a 'how did they do that?' point of view, but a fascinating study in how Hollywood can produce a great film into the ground.
For 'how they made a masterpiece', just stick with Alien. Whose extras are even more interesting as you watch how they almost made exactly the same errors as 3 in some places.
The kind that loves to show off, is all. The transfer on the Criterion release isn't even quite as good as the cheapo Fox Lorber release, and the extras aren't really all that great either. Many, many other Criterion releases could take its place, if only the idea was to nominate the best disc presentation, rather than to brag about owning a rare DVD.
Besides, the whole thing is a pretty straight port of their laserdisc release, which even looked slightly better.