1) CD/DVD/BD read speeds have a low maximum speed they can cap at, and the latencies have a high minimum they could reach. I suspect we'll be seeing more HDD based games in the future. For the next generation consoles, it'll be necessary just because they can't stream textures fast enough off a DVD.
2) In my experience, PC games get patched quicker and have less bugs.
3) In theory, but in practice PC games are often more stable. This is partly due to the XBox360 hardware not being all that stable in the first place, compared to a well built PC. If you were to ask me the number of times a game locked up on me in the past year, my answer would be zero, because my PC doesn't blow. I play about three-four hours of games per day, so quite frankly I'm surprised I haven't hit any issues.
Consoles though - man, look at how often they lock up or fail!
4) My experience here has been mixed. Older games (pre-2004) don't like newer drivers - but aside from that, most relatively new games work fine with relatively new drivers. I think I'm using WHQL 185.85's right now.
5) Huh? You mean hotseat? Actually, many PC games do - but you need to buy the controllers, and some games don't support it.
6) Makes perfect sense to me. I couldn't afford a new TV, so I moved my couch infront of my old 1440x900 monitor. Looks absolutely stunning, and it's comfortable!;)
I'm not trying to say that console gaming is inferior - just that the XBox360 is. (hardware wise) Anyone that loves their PC and games will have their home set up in a way that's comfortable when gaming, and now that many games are PC-XBox360 releases, they sport the same features on both platforms. (PC game, XBox controllers, hotseat!)
I fully agree that having an instant-on game "console" is nice, which is why I have a computer that cold boots in 25 seconds flat. I'd lose at least that much time if I had to hunt for a DVD.;)
A decade or more ago concern was raised that incresing Co2 would kill of the coral in the Indian ocean and sho' nuff a bunch had died off. Then (despite increasing co2 levels) it grew back.
If indeed it has grown back (I have no way to prove this) then that proves that in one location, coral adapted to the current Co2 levels.
No guarantees that coral dying elsewhere will grow back. No guarantees that in another 15 years, Indian ocean coral will still be there.
I think the coral dying exactly as predicted is the more important factor. We should be listening to the scientists warning us about these impending problems.
At least we're winning the battle against something!
And now we're winning the battle two things - Glaciers (haha) and the FUD saying global climate change isn't happening.
Get your head out of the sand, people! Even if you personally don't care about warming or cooling of our world, you should be worried about stuff like increased acidification of the ocean. If that passes a certain point, no more plankton. No more plankton, and the diversity of our marine life drops drastically, and a lot of people are going to go hungry.
I got in an argument with someone on/., about what happens when the Kindle DRM servers go down. I got modded troll, because I said when the servers go down all the stuff you own is gone. He got modded insightful, because he claimed whatever is on your Kindle is there to stay.
Yes, I'm glad, because now we know this isn't true. Amazon is the owner of the books - you're just renting a license, until they choose to expire it. This needed to be prooved, and nobody was going to listen to me until Amazon gave the evidence.
Beware - they can remotely delete.:/ That means they have full remote access to your Kindle. This isn't just DRM - it could also be spyware.
Indeed. Google only fine-tunes search results from more savvy users. It's a tad creepy, but they build a profile and know what you're interested in, and use that to send you the correct links.
Probably. That's the strategy that's been commonly employed for the last decade.
Look at it this way... 1) You let the DDoS go through, costing you money and bandwidth, and potentially bringing the target offline. This gives the target a headache and costs them money, too. 2) You block the DDoS, saving some money and bandwidth, but with heavy load on your own servers, and the same effect for users within your network. Target site does not go offline, which allows access to people connecting through other networks. It also allows your users to proxy in, if they need to.
Seems like the lesser of two evils. We should be praising them for saving our/b/, don't you think?:P
You're modded funny, but you should be modded insightful.
Scientists have already had limited success reading images and words out of what people are thinking. At the rate technology moves, we could have mind-reading in two or three decades.
And once we've got that, it'll be trivial converting whatever you're thinking into: Movies, Images, Text, etc.
If you can envision it, you could spend a Sunday rendering a LOTR sequel with your mind.;) Or think out an essay - it'll already be complete, on your computer screen.
Although if we have mind reading, we should also be able to do mind-writing. Overload your optic nerve and give yourself an ocular HUD!
You seem to be under the impression there's only one browser on Linux?
If you RTFA, it sounds like Lie suggested it because it's a Good Ideaâ rather than because he wanted to see Opera on it.
Q: In your opinion, should Apple also be expected to offer a ballot box for its computers? Should Ubunto?
The Microsoft case is based on antitrust law, something that only applies to monopolies. Apple and Ubuntu are not monopolies as per the legal definition of a monopoly. Still, it may be a good idea to offer it; the browser is the most important tool for most of us, and having access to better browsers is a good thing.
1) Ubunto? 2) I don't see him specifically saying Opera should be on it. There's many good linux browsers, for different purposes.
Firefox, Konquerer, Chrome (getting there; it's really fast compared to the rest), Lynx.;)
I find Firefox to be bloated and slow on Ubuntu. It runs slower on a 2.6ghz Athlon X2 than Firefox does on a 2.0ghz Athlon XP, in Windows 2000.
I can't count the number of times I've just stared at someone coding something, and wondered what the heck they were trying to do. We'd be much better off if programming courses had more problem solving. It doesn't even have to be difficult languages - before I started coding, I spent years making stuff with TGF/MMF - when it was finally time to learn something more low-level, like SDL, I already had all the concepts necessary to throw together a simple 2D platformer, before I had even learned a language.
I don't consider myself an amazing programmer, but I know enough to get the job done. Many things stump me, but 2D games never have, so I really do believe learning the concepts (and getting results) before learning the implementation helped.
With ludicrously high IOPS, your CPU doesn't have to do much waiting, which pretty much defeats any RAID solution. RAID usually raises overhead, because your CPU has to decide which device the requests go to - unless you use expensive hardware RAID controllers, all of which have IOPS caps. Most RAID solutions also go through slower interfaces - although compared to PCIe 2.0 4x, every interface(SATA1/2/3, USB2/3, etc.) is slow.
HDDs are impressive tech, but they have a different purpose. Density, longevity. SSDs are really going to shine for database stuff in the future. Prices are dropping rapidly, and are almost here!
There really isn't anything stopping you from installing alternate media players or browsers in WIndows, forcing file associations or whatever. As much as I'd love to see the world move away from Windows and Microsoft, I really don't see the point in making their life hard over media players or browsers right now.
This is the kind of ignorance I've become accustomed to, when reading slashdot.
Remember a couple years ago, when none of the media players played nice? When Winamp, RealPlayer, Quicktime, WMP, etc. were all jostling to steal your file associations?
Then the fine-hammer came down on MS, and everyone smartened up.
Right now all the browsers are warring to be the default, and to decide who opens.url and.html files on your computer.
And once MS has been fined, all the browser vendors will smarten up, and play nice.
I'm not saying that it's right to always go after the biggest guy with the deepest pockets - but you can't slam the EU, when in this matter, they're actually getting a result. I also understand that making an example out of the worst offender is what political groups do. As an American, you should be familiar with this. (See: Politicians) The EU is definitely trying to make an example out of Microsoft, but I'm shocked MS didn't see it coming, and smarten up before they got fined.
You can have a Windows XP Netbook for $349.99, or an Ubuntu Netbook for $369.99. (wtf?)
I must say, it'd be sweet to pick up the XP Netbook, get a $40 rebate, and then install UNR on it.
And I have no idea why the price was higher for Ubuntu. Maybe because UNR wasn't easily deployable at first. Either way, the price many places(like Dell) is now equal, so you could still save if you didn't have to pay for the OS.
Most of C++'s superior performance disappears when you start using what are referred to as Collections in Java. ArrayList, Vector, etc. are lean and mean - I suppose because like most Java base-classes, they were coded by someone knowledgeable in C.
You don't even have to assume some people are more sensitive to light, and can "see" it.
There was a study a while ago about conscious and subconscious sight. Apparently certain kinds of blindness leave subconscious vision semi in-tact, so although the person couldn't see, he could snap his eyes shut if a bug was about to hit them.
"Halos" might not even be literal halos, so much as a feeling you get when looking at someone.
Your subconscious doesn't have a lot of ways to communicate. It's limited to feelings and reactions, mostly? I think this could all be processed subconsciously, so that our conscious mind would never know.
Not everyone is looking for domain name privacy. I think it's sketchy to order online from a company that hides their domain name registration. I think it's an indicator of legitimacy when a business lists their correct name, address & contact info on a domain name registration.
I use a modified Firefox Portable install across all the computers in my home. Look into it - it's pretty easy to modify, and you can keep everybody's profile on a central share.
Deployment will be a bit more of a challenge, if you need it to be the default browser. Firefox Portable doesn't steal file associations, or even have a way to register itself as the default browser, so that requires manual copying of registry keys.
If you're serious about deploying Firefox, you can probably devise a tiny app to handle that, or dredge up the required regkeys from a computer that already has Firefox installed. It might take an hour to do the first time - but luckily you only have to do it once, if you don't miss anything.
Like charge money to see if you need protection? Hate to see anything nasty happen to that identity you got there.
Works for Antivirus companies.
At issue is the definition of a stolen identity. A stolen identity may contain the same info on you as what your local doctor's office stores on their computers - although it probably contains less.
So what makes it a stolen identity? This cop didn't steal anything - he just made note that your identity was stolen(offered up on websites, etc.?), and presumably jotted down enough info that they can confirm it if you want to know.
Maybe they are storing everything - in which case, it's probably in an encrypted DB behind multiple firewalls, not being used for anything nefarious.
I'm sorry - EU privacy laws may be against him, but you're not going to convict this guy.:/ And from the tone of the posts replying to my own, both sides seem to agree about it.
Slashdot Mirror
1) CD/DVD/BD read speeds have a low maximum speed they can cap at, and the latencies have a high minimum they could reach. I suspect we'll be seeing more HDD based games in the future. For the next generation consoles, it'll be necessary just because they can't stream textures fast enough off a DVD.
2) In my experience, PC games get patched quicker and have less bugs.
3) In theory, but in practice PC games are often more stable. This is partly due to the XBox360 hardware not being all that stable in the first place, compared to a well built PC. If you were to ask me the number of times a game locked up on me in the past year, my answer would be zero, because my PC doesn't blow. I play about three-four hours of games per day, so quite frankly I'm surprised I haven't hit any issues.
Consoles though - man, look at how often they lock up or fail!
4) My experience here has been mixed. Older games (pre-2004) don't like newer drivers - but aside from that, most relatively new games work fine with relatively new drivers. I think I'm using WHQL 185.85's right now.
5) Huh? You mean hotseat? Actually, many PC games do - but you need to buy the controllers, and some games don't support it.
6) Makes perfect sense to me. I couldn't afford a new TV, so I moved my couch infront of my old 1440x900 monitor. Looks absolutely stunning, and it's comfortable! ;)
I'm not trying to say that console gaming is inferior - just that the XBox360 is. (hardware wise) Anyone that loves their PC and games will have their home set up in a way that's comfortable when gaming, and now that many games are PC-XBox360 releases, they sport the same features on both platforms. (PC game, XBox controllers, hotseat!)
I fully agree that having an instant-on game "console" is nice, which is why I have a computer that cold boots in 25 seconds flat. I'd lose at least that much time if I had to hunt for a DVD. ;)
expected ;
> can't be used as assignment, in most languages, so that's missing more than just a semicolon.
There's no semicolon in if(lasser_diode.robustness > ... ) {}
A decade or more ago concern was raised that incresing Co2 would kill of the coral in the Indian ocean and sho' nuff a bunch had died off. Then (despite increasing co2 levels) it grew back.
If indeed it has grown back (I have no way to prove this) then that proves that in one location, coral adapted to the current Co2 levels.
No guarantees that coral dying elsewhere will grow back. No guarantees that in another 15 years, Indian ocean coral will still be there.
I think the coral dying exactly as predicted is the more important factor. We should be listening to the scientists warning us about these impending problems.
At least we're winning the battle against something!
And now we're winning the battle two things - Glaciers (haha) and the FUD saying global climate change isn't happening.
Get your head out of the sand, people! Even if you personally don't care about warming or cooling of our world, you should be worried about stuff like increased acidification of the ocean. If that passes a certain point, no more plankton. No more plankton, and the diversity of our marine life drops drastically, and a lot of people are going to go hungry.
You know, I'm glad this happened.
I got in an argument with someone on /., about what happens when the Kindle DRM servers go down. I got modded troll, because I said when the servers go down all the stuff you own is gone. He got modded insightful, because he claimed whatever is on your Kindle is there to stay.
Yes, I'm glad, because now we know this isn't true. Amazon is the owner of the books - you're just renting a license, until they choose to expire it. This needed to be prooved, and nobody was going to listen to me until Amazon gave the evidence.
Beware - they can remotely delete. :/ That means they have full remote access to your Kindle. This isn't just DRM - it could also be spyware.
Keep it in mind... you've been warned.
Indeed. Google only fine-tunes search results from more savvy users. It's a tad creepy, but they build a profile and know what you're interested in, and use that to send you the correct links.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Pandora&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=
What's your top link? Mine is OpenPandora.org
Bing spits out crap that I'm not at all interested in. Now I know why.
Probably. That's the strategy that's been commonly employed for the last decade.
Look at it this way...
1) You let the DDoS go through, costing you money and bandwidth, and potentially bringing the target offline. This gives the target a headache and costs them money, too.
2) You block the DDoS, saving some money and bandwidth, but with heavy load on your own servers, and the same effect for users within your network. Target site does not go offline, which allows access to people connecting through other networks. It also allows your users to proxy in, if they need to.
Seems like the lesser of two evils. We should be praising them for saving our /b/, don't you think? :P
Arora isn't bad. I used it a couple times while trying out browsers.
I can't speak to the consistency of offering a choice of browsers on first boot.
Thanks! Bookmarked!
But... I still can't get TM to show up. ® wouldn't work - it was a running joke a while back, that somebody trademarked "Good Thing".
That's because defaults are intended to be applied to millions of users and therefore cannot be ideal for all users or even very many of them.
Sure it can. Most people prefer Google, so the default in every browser should be Google.
It's a 100% logical way of satisfying the vast majority of users. You'll just have trouble getting Microsoft onboard with it.
You're modded funny, but you should be modded insightful.
Scientists have already had limited success reading images and words out of what people are thinking. At the rate technology moves, we could have mind-reading in two or three decades.
And once we've got that, it'll be trivial converting whatever you're thinking into: Movies, Images, Text, etc.
If you can envision it, you could spend a Sunday rendering a LOTR sequel with your mind. ;) Or think out an essay - it'll already be complete, on your computer screen.
Although if we have mind reading, we should also be able to do mind-writing. Overload your optic nerve and give yourself an ocular HUD!
Apparently the TM (trademark) char turns into an a with a ^ overtop it. Or maybe my browser is just being ornery.
You seem to be under the impression there's only one browser on Linux?
If you RTFA, it sounds like Lie suggested it because it's a Good Ideaâ rather than because he wanted to see Opera on it.
Q: In your opinion, should Apple also be expected to offer a ballot box for its computers? Should Ubunto?
The Microsoft case is based on antitrust law, something that only applies to monopolies. Apple and Ubuntu are not monopolies as per the legal definition of a monopoly. Still, it may be a good idea to offer it; the browser is the most important tool for most of us, and having access to better browsers is a good thing.
1) Ubunto?
2) I don't see him specifically saying Opera should be on it. There's many good linux browsers, for different purposes.
Firefox, Konquerer, Chrome (getting there; it's really fast compared to the rest), Lynx. ;)
I find Firefox to be bloated and slow on Ubuntu. It runs slower on a 2.6ghz Athlon X2 than Firefox does on a 2.0ghz Athlon XP, in Windows 2000.
How about teaching people to write algorithms ?
You are a smart man. (or woman)
I can't count the number of times I've just stared at someone coding something, and wondered what the heck they were trying to do. We'd be much better off if programming courses had more problem solving. It doesn't even have to be difficult languages - before I started coding, I spent years making stuff with TGF/MMF - when it was finally time to learn something more low-level, like SDL, I already had all the concepts necessary to throw together a simple 2D platformer, before I had even learned a language.
I don't consider myself an amazing programmer, but I know enough to get the job done. Many things stump me, but 2D games never have, so I really do believe learning the concepts (and getting results) before learning the implementation helped.
Also: Double-buffered clip-pane 2D renderer! Woot!
I'd rather have an ioDrive.
See: http://hothardware.com/Articles/Fusionio-vs-Intel-X25M-SSD-RAID-Grudge-Match/?page=9
With ludicrously high IOPS, your CPU doesn't have to do much waiting, which pretty much defeats any RAID solution. RAID usually raises overhead, because your CPU has to decide which device the requests go to - unless you use expensive hardware RAID controllers, all of which have IOPS caps. Most RAID solutions also go through slower interfaces - although compared to PCIe 2.0 4x, every interface(SATA1/2/3, USB2/3, etc.) is slow.
HDDs are impressive tech, but they have a different purpose. Density, longevity. SSDs are really going to shine for database stuff in the future. Prices are dropping rapidly, and are almost here!
Hehe. That pretty much sums it up.
Evolution dictates that the tree that is most difficult to eat is the one that survives.
But when all of them survive... what, you expect that suddenly all the trees will revert? No - they keep on evolving.
There really isn't anything stopping you from installing alternate media players or browsers in WIndows, forcing file associations or whatever. As much as I'd love to see the world move away from Windows and Microsoft, I really don't see the point in making their life hard over media players or browsers right now.
This is the kind of ignorance I've become accustomed to, when reading slashdot.
Remember a couple years ago, when none of the media players played nice? When Winamp, RealPlayer, Quicktime, WMP, etc. were all jostling to steal your file associations?
Then the fine-hammer came down on MS, and everyone smartened up.
Right now all the browsers are warring to be the default, and to decide who opens .url and .html files on your computer.
And once MS has been fined, all the browser vendors will smarten up, and play nice.
I'm not saying that it's right to always go after the biggest guy with the deepest pockets - but you can't slam the EU, when in this matter, they're actually getting a result. I also understand that making an example out of the worst offender is what political groups do. As an American, you should be familiar with this. (See: Politicians) The EU is definitely trying to make an example out of Microsoft, but I'm shocked MS didn't see it coming, and smarten up before they got fined.
This is more of an issue with Netbooks.
You can have a Windows XP Netbook for $349.99, or an Ubuntu Netbook for $369.99. (wtf?)
I must say, it'd be sweet to pick up the XP Netbook, get a $40 rebate, and then install UNR on it.
And I have no idea why the price was higher for Ubuntu. Maybe because UNR wasn't easily deployable at first. Either way, the price many places(like Dell) is now equal, so you could still save if you didn't have to pay for the OS.
But if you do that you may as well code in Java.
Most of C++'s superior performance disappears when you start using what are referred to as Collections in Java. ArrayList, Vector, etc. are lean and mean - I suppose because like most Java base-classes, they were coded by someone knowledgeable in C.
How about Dan Bernstein?
See: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1150721&cid=27084021
You don't even have to assume some people are more sensitive to light, and can "see" it.
There was a study a while ago about conscious and subconscious sight. Apparently certain kinds of blindness leave subconscious vision semi in-tact, so although the person couldn't see, he could snap his eyes shut if a bug was about to hit them.
"Halos" might not even be literal halos, so much as a feeling you get when looking at someone.
Your subconscious doesn't have a lot of ways to communicate. It's limited to feelings and reactions, mostly? I think this could all be processed subconsciously, so that our conscious mind would never know.
Not everyone is looking for domain name privacy. I think it's sketchy to order online from a company that hides their domain name registration. I think it's an indicator of legitimacy when a business lists their correct name, address & contact info on a domain name registration.
Yes, a business. Some of us are people.
You guys are behind the times! I first read up on salmon sperm luminescence years ago - sheesh!
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/11/salmon-sperm-used-to-intensify-leds-grossify-everyone/
I use a modified Firefox Portable install across all the computers in my home. Look into it - it's pretty easy to modify, and you can keep everybody's profile on a central share.
Deployment will be a bit more of a challenge, if you need it to be the default browser. Firefox Portable doesn't steal file associations, or even have a way to register itself as the default browser, so that requires manual copying of registry keys.
If you're serious about deploying Firefox, you can probably devise a tiny app to handle that, or dredge up the required regkeys from a computer that already has Firefox installed. It might take an hour to do the first time - but luckily you only have to do it once, if you don't miss anything.
Like charge money to see if you need protection? Hate to see anything nasty happen to that identity you got there.
Works for Antivirus companies.
At issue is the definition of a stolen identity. A stolen identity may contain the same info on you as what your local doctor's office stores on their computers - although it probably contains less.
So what makes it a stolen identity? This cop didn't steal anything - he just made note that your identity was stolen(offered up on websites, etc.?), and presumably jotted down enough info that they can confirm it if you want to know.
Maybe they are storing everything - in which case, it's probably in an encrypted DB behind multiple firewalls, not being used for anything nefarious.
I'm sorry - EU privacy laws may be against him, but you're not going to convict this guy. :/ And from the tone of the posts replying to my own, both sides seem to agree about it.