I was under the impression that the tax on blank CDs only applied to those 'special' music CD-Rs for component CD writers that I would imagine nobody on/. has ever even purchased? I thought that was part of the reason they are so much more than 'regular' blanks for a computer-based CD writer. Can somebody comment on this? All I can find on Google are articles about Canada and Germany's tax laws.
Dear Lord, how will I be able to startup ComanderKeenForge.net without the source code to Comander Keen!?!?!?!?! It's just not fair to leave us hangin' like this!!!:)
I wouldn't expect to see Quicktime for Linux anytime soon.
However, an interesting fact: according to last month's Linux Format (a really good UK Linux mag, IMO) Apple actually changed their license so that CodeWeavers could legitimatly use the Windows Quicktime 5 plugin for Netscape under Linux.
So again, don't expect to see a native version of Quicktime for Linux anytime soon... but don't expect Apple to completely ignore Linux either. (Insert obligatory plug for Codeweaver's plugin here... here's mine: Quicktime works great even on my laptop! Try it out!)
The Future of the XPlayGameBoxStationCubes
on
Gamecube Hits US Early
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· Score: 2, Interesting
With the price of PC hardware falling (I speced out a Ghz Athlon machine for a friend with a 486[!] for around $500 on Pricewatch), are systems that cost $200-$300 for a base system really going to be worth it to people? Especially considering games are more and more brought out on every major platform (Sega's new strategy), will we see a phaseout of stand alone consoles (or at least a price drop to make them more appealing to people spending a little more to get a full blown computer)?
Even in Outlook 2000 (what I *have* to use at work), when I write to some of my friends who are still in college at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County), spell check strongly recommends that I change the spelling to DUMB.
Blockbuster did this a while back...
on
Rent-a-Game
·
· Score: 3, Informative
...at least in Columbia, MD. And it was only games. You could actually go in and rent CD-ROM titles just like you would Playstation games. Guess they didn't rent too many because they don't do it any more.
SDL's 3D code is just a wrapper around OpenGL for whatever platform you're using, if I'm not mistaken. So the 'future' that you point out is wrappers for OpenGL?
Looks like we're back to the days of yore, when you (the developer) got to choose to support a specific card (3dfx or the others that didn't survive) because there was no DirectX support... because there was no DirectX. Then you (the consumer) got the shaft if you didn't have the right card, unless the developer later came out with a binary that would support your card's features. But if it wasn't an uber-popular game, this usually didn't happen.
So why are Nvidia and ATI forcing developer to go back to the stone age of accelerated polygons? Oh that's right... Me likes pretty picture.
If you're talking about the 6 volume Robotech series, with 6 episodes a tape, this *should* include a lot more. Like the other 40-50 episodes that were shown after the Macross portion
I think what is important here is that while there is a small amount of loss, there is no additional loss in quality by copying it for 500,000 of your closest friends:)
I think it's the scale of the thing that has them crapping their pants.
I've known about this since last summer... except the president didn't want to use the nukes on Russia. Rather, it would have been an attempt to thwart Dr. Evil from trying to destroy the Earth with a "big frickin' laser". Fortunately, Austin Powers was there to stop Dr. Evil before this happened.
I think a lot of this whole situation involves some misunderstandings on everybody's part. Let me explain: First, the members of Metallica seem to be a little uninformed about this case, which makes me think that their wonderful managers have shown them the evils of Internet distribution. They've claimed in the chat and interviews that they would gladly drop the case is Napster would "remove Metallica's Studio Masters from their server". Anybody who has ever used Napster knows that this is impossible. The way Napster is setup just doesn't provide a way to filter such things. Any attempt to stop the music from being traded would probably end with fans changing the names of the MP3's to get around it. I also don't see Napster losing the same way MP3.com lost, because they don't actually have the music on their servers. MP3.com lost because they were distributing music that they bought one license for and then redistributed it to thousands. If that was right or wrong is not the question; it does violate current copyright laws. I think the band needs to understand that Napster does not function in the same way and (unfortunately) it's ultimately the "fans" that are housing and distributing the music. In Metallica's defense however, I do understand that they have copyrights to worry about. They cleared up a lot of questions that I had with the chat through ArtistDirect. I think a lot of questions that people are asking would be best answered by reading the transcript. I was glad to read from the that they were not interested in going after the 300,000+ users using Napster. They also said they still hold their stance on taping shows (it's ok) and that MP3 distribution of live material is fine with them (this is also in the chat transcript) Finally, they stated that they were *not* against MP3 as a format. To me that says that somebody's concern about making MP3's to listen to in their car is not an issue. So I guess my question from all of this is: It can be said that the only purpose of Napster is to traffic music, most of which is copyrighted. What will Metallica's stance be on new tools that will develop that will allow sharing of *any* information? Some of these tools are already here (Gnutella) and will only improve over time. Will Metallica take a stance that will impede free speech to stop the *possibility* of infringing on copyrights?
$80 million for rubber gloves? Anybody else wonder if they're just trying to unload a couple warehouses full of old Power Gloves?:) What the heck, they're not good for anything anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
I was under the impression that the tax on blank CDs only applied to those 'special' music CD-Rs for component CD writers that I would imagine nobody on /. has ever even purchased? I thought that was part of the reason they are so much more than 'regular' blanks for a computer-based CD writer. Can somebody comment on this? All I can find on Google are articles about Canada and Germany's tax laws.
Base 2 math and hangover do not mix well... "Does that actually equal 2001? Let me use my feeble brain to... ARHGHGGH!"
Dear Lord, how will I be able to startup ComanderKeenForge.net without the source code to Comander Keen!?!?!?!?! It's just not fair to leave us hangin' like this!!! :)
to get me a most bestest video card for crissmas. Geforce am a very goodest chipset for me to play em my bestest games.
For Great Justice!
First Debian is ported to Windows. Now it's being ported to Red Hat? I'm so confused :-P
I wouldn't expect to see Quicktime for Linux anytime soon.
However, an interesting fact: according to last month's Linux Format (a really good UK Linux mag, IMO) Apple actually changed their license so that CodeWeavers could legitimatly use the Windows Quicktime 5 plugin for Netscape under Linux.
So again, don't expect to see a native version of Quicktime for Linux anytime soon... but don't expect Apple to completely ignore Linux either. (Insert obligatory plug for Codeweaver's plugin here... here's mine: Quicktime works great even on my laptop! Try it out!)
Maybe this is more of an Ask Slashdot question...
I wonder what other interesting marketing tricks msft and nintendo have in store for each other.
I'm hoping for some clever slogans such as "Xbox does... what Nintendon't". Wait... has this been done before? :-P
Even in Outlook 2000 (what I *have* to use at work), when I write to some of my friends who are still in college at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County), spell check strongly recommends that I change the spelling to DUMB.
Anybody who attended the school may also agree
If they can just get that guy from the cheese comercial, I think it'll really sell.
I saw this too... CmdrTaco is too quick! I didn't even get a chance to put in my smart ass remark! :)
Dammit, I meant to sat the big bad IDSA. Whoops.
...at least in Columbia, MD. And it was only games. You could actually go in and rent CD-ROM titles just like you would Playstation games. Guess they didn't rent too many because they don't do it any more.
... or the big bad ISDA shut them down :)
I was just amused that Cheap CDs seems to slashdotted right now... guess everybody else's boycott is over as well :)
SDL's 3D code is just a wrapper around OpenGL for whatever platform you're using, if I'm not mistaken. So the 'future' that you point out is wrappers for OpenGL?
Looks like we're back to the days of yore, when you (the developer) got to choose to support a specific card (3dfx or the others that didn't survive) because there was no DirectX support... because there was no DirectX. Then you (the consumer) got the shaft if you didn't have the right card, unless the developer later came out with a binary that would support your card's features. But if it wasn't an uber-popular game, this usually didn't happen.
So why are Nvidia and ATI forcing developer to go back to the stone age of accelerated polygons? Oh that's right... Me likes pretty picture.
"If their encryption is shit, you must acquit"
:)
Who's gonna start collecting for this?
If you're talking about the 6 volume Robotech series, with 6 episodes a tape, this *should* include a lot more. Like the other 40-50 episodes that were shown after the Macross portion
As soon as they start bulking Technics bricks, axels, and the jointed plates I can finally start building my Robotech Valkyrie and Optimus Prime!
I think what is important here is that while there is a small amount of loss, there is no additional loss in quality by copying it for 500,000 of your closest friends :)
I think it's the scale of the thing that has them crapping their pants.
I've known about this since last summer... except the president didn't want to use the nukes on Russia. Rather, it would have been an attempt to thwart Dr. Evil from trying to destroy the Earth with a "big frickin' laser". Fortunately, Austin Powers was there to stop Dr. Evil before this happened.
Lucky us :)
I think a lot of this whole situation involves some misunderstandings on everybody's part. Let me explain: First, the members of Metallica seem to be a little uninformed about this case, which makes me think that their wonderful managers have shown them the evils of Internet distribution. They've claimed in the chat and interviews that they would gladly drop the case is Napster would "remove Metallica's Studio Masters from their server". Anybody who has ever used Napster knows that this is impossible. The way Napster is setup just doesn't provide a way to filter such things. Any attempt to stop the music from being traded would probably end with fans changing the names of the MP3's to get around it. I also don't see Napster losing the same way MP3.com lost, because they don't actually have the music on their servers. MP3.com lost because they were distributing music that they bought one license for and then redistributed it to thousands. If that was right or wrong is not the question; it does violate current copyright laws. I think the band needs to understand that Napster does not function in the same way and (unfortunately) it's ultimately the "fans" that are housing and distributing the music. In Metallica's defense however, I do understand that they have copyrights to worry about. They cleared up a lot of questions that I had with the chat through ArtistDirect. I think a lot of questions that people are asking would be best answered by reading the transcript. I was glad to read from the that they were not interested in going after the 300,000+ users using Napster. They also said they still hold their stance on taping shows (it's ok) and that MP3 distribution of live material is fine with them (this is also in the chat transcript) Finally, they stated that they were *not* against MP3 as a format. To me that says that somebody's concern about making MP3's to listen to in their car is not an issue. So I guess my question from all of this is: It can be said that the only purpose of Napster is to traffic music, most of which is copyrighted. What will Metallica's stance be on new tools that will develop that will allow sharing of *any* information? Some of these tools are already here (Gnutella) and will only improve over time. Will Metallica take a stance that will impede free speech to stop the *possibility* of infringing on copyrights?
$80 million for rubber gloves? Anybody else wonder if they're just trying to unload a couple warehouses full of old Power Gloves? :) What the heck, they're not good for anything anyway.