Gas prices are in constant flux. Buying a gas/electric hybrid at this point because of gas reasons is like purchasing war bonds. A nice idea, but not really efficient after the event is over.
It is statements like that which keep this country(and this world) from searching into alternative energy/fuel methods. You're missing the point here...the "issue" is not that gas is too expensive, it is that there is only so much to go around...and using less of it will make it last longer.
This is not an "event" which will end....the only thing that will end is the worlds' oil supply, unless more moves like this towards cleaner, alternative fuel methods are made. I, for one, commend Honda for this.
I recently took a ten day trip out into the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Ten Miles away from the nearest dirt road, I spent the time away from telephone, television, computers, and basically modern technology in every form(with the exception of running water and some kitchen appliances).
I'll tell you, I absolutely loved it. Life has since gone back to normal for me, but the time away from the tech was just so invaluable, I'm making it a new policy to stay unplugged whenever I go away.
When we finally do see Consumer Space flight become a reality, I could easily see the FAA and NASA joining together...as we will need a US agency to make sure everything works well....
It will be called the Federal Air and Space Administration....
Also known as FASA.
(next they'll be designing the next generation of ground transport with large armored walking units....)
Back in the day, most sound devices actually were EXTERNAL, and used the parallel port to produce sound(not unlike a printer). The "Disney Sound Source" box comes to mind here, but I know there were quite a few others...as well as some homebuilt solutions that could be rigged with multiple DACs to produce higher and even stereo sound.
Although I'd agree this was a good interview. Lars has some excellent points, but there's still some BIG things that he's missing.
He points out several times that one of his biggest concerns(although he says this isn't about money) is that they're losing record sales to Napster(etc). I simply cannot believe this(especially in lieu of the recent article that the RIAA lost -$19bill(mill?) since Napster-like services have risen.
That means they MADE MORE money, folks! That's right, since Napster & MP3 have come about, people are buying MORE albums then they used to. I can personally vouch for this(Listen to this Lars if you're reading this), because before MP3s I had never listened to a Metallica song, ever. But since I found them on the internet, I have bought three of their albums, and many other albums from other artists that I would never have known about without Napster or Mp3.
You say that you're worried about the quantity & the quality of the bootlegging that is going on in Napster, but it really isn't the case. You should realise that this is probably helping you more than anything else. (AND BTW killing 300,000 names from Napster did absolutely nothing, it's just as easy to find someone there with a Metallica song as it was two months ago).
I'm curious if using a display such as this, although the display only creates Two Dimensions, if it would be possible to do the same thing with video the same thing that stereo speakers have done for sound.
With sound, you may only have two speakers(or more) speakers, but using fading effects, you can create the illusion of a sound being anywhere between or even outside the speaker radius.
Would it be possible to do a similar effect using a 2-Dimensional display monitor? Perhaps the "front" dimension has an image(a mouse pointer for example), and while you move it to the "rear" dimension(since there are only two with this display), the front dimension "fades" the image into the rear dimension, creating the illusion that it has actually passed through space to get there, as if there really were more than two dimensions.
Undoubtedly, to create the look of two dimensions, what the technology has required was one "transparent" display on top of another regular display, and all it would require would be a fading transparency effect to accomplish such illusions a demonstrated above.
If you'd noticed I also stated earlier in my post that if not the first, defnitely one of the post.
But in any case, the coffee pot isn't autoreloading, which is really one of the functions required for a "webcam", and something Jenni has had the entire time. (I rememver even CNET's original studio cam, which came after they ran a story on her, had an autoreloader and ran on NS 2.0)
I'm kind of surprised, as I haven't really seen any posts backing up CmdrTaco on this one.
Honestly, I agree with him, that Jennicam was the first(if not the first, than one of the first) sites on the internet that showed just to what degree someone could go on a website.
Jennicam is one of those sites that really shows why the internet is such a stronger medium than we've ever had available before, because one can expose themselves to the entire public, but at the same time, be completely hidden as well.
I, for one, admire Jenni, and think that she, if nothing else, deserves a little recognition on/. when such an anniversary comes about. She launched a net trend, the webcam, which should definitely be counted as "news for nerds". But in any case, it's definitely "stuff that matters." (This isn't just pr0n here guys, take some time to actually read the site)
Maybe we'll all get lucky this time, and actually something will be released. I"m tired of all this speculation and hype being spread from one place to another.....Someone please make a product and ship it!
Ok, I know I am not the only one asking this, but what is Battlesphere? I went to the web page, and it seems like a crappy space sim reminiscent of Wing Commander 1 - and that was released in 1990....
Why is this game so important that it took 6 years to develop and cost over $1000 on ebay?? I can't possibly imagine, from the old screenshots, that it could be that good.
This exactly what I mean. I can't vouch with you on the POS line, I have ethernet here, but I know that people do, and I respect that.
My current homepage, at http://www.activewin.com/cponline/ was purposely done in almost no graphic or design elements, because that way anyone can view it. Some of the more content-oriented pages end up over 5k, but it's all in text, no flash, graphics, or javascript code... and it works on any browser. (I happen to use IE5 when I'm on Windows, but my reasoning for that is that IE is a hell of a lot more standards-compliant than Netscape 4.xx ever has been--I'm looking forward to Mozilla).
Now most websites look nice on a graphical browser, but almost none of them give the option for a low-bandwidth version. I think that even if a site wants to pile on the DHTML, Images, and whatever else could be added to make the site look nice, they should still be giving a nice, clean, simple, 100% compatible, text-based alternative.
(Considering most of my web-related work is graphic design......this probably sounds a little ironic comng from me )
5k is not a lot of space to do anything useful in....for any amount of text, it usually comes out more than that.
But....it can be done. My home page weighs in at 3199 bytes, and that's with graphics! The only thing is, they propose that most web pages should be small, similar to this, but most useful pages that have more than two or three paragraphs on them will swell to 10 or 20k, and that's without using any kinds of graphics.
50k for a web page is great, and having alternate slimmed-down versions for new wireless and lo-bandwidth devices is a good thing, but not all web pages should be 10-20k. You'd never get any useful information(above all--you would NEVER get to read Slashdot--the lite page was 40+kb!).
But in any case, looks like a good thing to try, similar to the 4096kb democompos that I think they still have at the demo parties in Europe.
I watched it, and although most of it was complete crap, I did admire the way a lot of it was handled.
Given: the technology to produce such "gamespaces" doesn't really exist right now, but in a few years, it might....and THAT would be cool.
About Mulders Disappearance: Has anyone given the thought that he didn't really disappear, that the program may have just made everyone think that he did? With the technology that was given in the game, it allowed that blank room to be converted into a warzone, including a dark alley or a Wild West fantasy. Who's to say that the computer, knowing what was up, didn't just create a room that -looked- like the regular room, while in reality, it was still inside the gamespace, with Mulder on the other side where the game was still being played out.
Sounds feasable enough to me...although I really don't want a computer game that can slice my arms off!
Many students I know--and I go to VA Tech Also--buy CDs and as you said, rip them for convienience sake. I have several friends who have ripped their entire CD collection.
But on the other hand, I have a few friends, most of them younger Freshman and such, who have swore never to buy a CD or Movie again because they can get it faster by just going on IRC and downloading the MP3s or ASF/MPGs of their selected media.
Dotster.com is what I used, and they gave me quick service and their registration fee was only $15/year(don't know if it's still that cheap though), which is $20 less than all other services. I highly recommend them.
You have a very valid point here. It does seem like a double standard exists on slashdot, and like you said, if they hate Katz as much as they say, why do they read his articles? (or perhaps they don't, but feel the need to flame him on it anyways).
If we as are to succeed in bringing those things that we strive for to the rest of the world, then we're going to have to act much more civilized than most of us currently do.
Very cool, seems to be the same thing the army is, quote 'developing'....and I know that this has been around for quite some time.
They actually ported Quake and Quake2 to these things, it's actually quite fun...unfortunately financial restraints keep us from doing too much deathmatching....something on the order of $10million a piece.......
But it does definitely feel -almost- real. It's pretty cool to have things come up at you in life size from all sides....hopefully the technology will get a good push and go down in price, I want one in my room.
But, of course, this isn't just one failure....only a few short months before the Polar Lander was to land, they lost another craft when they forgot to convert between metric and english measuring systems due to a miscommunication with the teams that built the craft.
Lately, NASA's been having some really bad luck...I think they're success rate is in the low 50's if not lower by now....Such a shame.
Are you saying that news and information that we recieve now over TV, newspaper, etc isn't biased?? (I'm not specifically referring to the net here, but most "traditional" media formats, which seems to be what you're referring to).
It's been a LONG time since I've seen a news broadcast that wasn't geared towards making you think something or feel something the way they wanted it, just look at all the Y2K histeria that they created.
Then we have the printed media, with magazines that give their highest reviews to the highest advertiser and put the paid stories above the REAL news. The only thing that AOL could possibly make worse is to make it possible for us to get even more intrusive and annoying advertisements.
(BTW-on the subject of biased reviews, I think ZDnet would be the next prime candidate for AOL buyout....that would put all the best marketing power under one roof, and then completely destroy our lives, eh?)
It would seem our only hope might just be to hope the Government doesn't approve the merger....which is what I've got my money on. (and to keep supporting smaller, unbiased sites)
Slashdot Mirror
It is statements like that which keep this country(and this world) from searching into alternative energy/fuel methods. You're missing the point here...the "issue" is not that gas is too expensive, it is that there is only so much to go around...and using less of it will make it last longer.
This is not an "event" which will end....the only thing that will end is the worlds' oil supply, unless more moves like this towards cleaner, alternative fuel methods are made. I, for one, commend Honda for this.
-Julius X
I recently took a ten day trip out into the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Ten Miles away from the nearest dirt road, I spent the time away from telephone, television, computers, and basically modern technology in every form(with the exception of running water and some kitchen appliances).
I'll tell you, I absolutely loved it. Life has since gone back to normal for me, but the time away from the tech was just so invaluable, I'm making it a new policy to stay unplugged whenever I go away.
-Julius X
When we finally do see Consumer Space flight become a reality, I could easily see the FAA and NASA joining together...as we will need a US agency to make sure everything works well....
It will be called the Federal Air and Space Administration....
Also known as FASA.
(next they'll be designing the next generation of ground transport with large armored walking units....)
-Julius X
Back in the day, most sound devices actually were EXTERNAL, and used the parallel port to produce sound(not unlike a printer). The "Disney Sound Source" box comes to mind here, but I know there were quite a few others...as well as some homebuilt solutions that could be rigged with multiple DACs to produce higher and even stereo sound.
-Julius X
By George, I think we've found our winning horse!
Katz---give the prize to this one!
-Julius X
Although I'd agree this was a good interview. Lars has some excellent points, but there's still some BIG things that he's missing.
He points out several times that one of his biggest concerns(although he says this isn't about money) is that they're losing record sales to Napster(etc). I simply cannot believe this(especially in lieu of the recent article that the RIAA lost -$19bill(mill?) since Napster-like services have risen.
That means they MADE MORE money, folks! That's right, since Napster & MP3 have come about, people are buying MORE albums then they used to. I can personally vouch for this(Listen to this Lars if you're reading this), because before MP3s I had never listened to a Metallica song, ever. But since I found them on the internet, I have bought three of their albums, and many other albums from other artists that I would never have known about without Napster or Mp3.
You say that you're worried about the quantity & the quality of the bootlegging that is going on in Napster, but it really isn't the case. You should realise that this is probably helping you more than anything else. (AND BTW killing 300,000 names from Napster did absolutely nothing, it's just as easy to find someone there with a Metallica song as it was two months ago).
-Julius X
I'm curious if using a display such as this, although the display only creates Two Dimensions, if it would be possible to do the same thing with video the same thing that stereo speakers have done for sound.
With sound, you may only have two speakers(or more) speakers, but using fading effects, you can create the illusion of a sound being anywhere between or even outside the speaker radius.
Would it be possible to do a similar effect using a 2-Dimensional display monitor? Perhaps the "front" dimension has an image(a mouse pointer for example), and while you move it to the "rear" dimension(since there are only two with this display), the front dimension "fades" the image into the rear dimension, creating the illusion that it has actually passed through space to get there, as if there really were more than two dimensions.
Undoubtedly, to create the look of two dimensions, what the technology has required was one "transparent" display on top of another regular display, and all it would require would be a fading transparency effect to accomplish such illusions a demonstrated above.
The possibllities here could be quite intriguing.
-Julius X
If you'd noticed I also stated earlier in my post that if not the first, defnitely one of the post.
But in any case, the coffee pot isn't autoreloading, which is really one of the functions required for a "webcam", and something Jenni has had the entire time. (I rememver even CNET's original studio cam, which came after they ran a story on her, had an autoreloader and ran on NS 2.0)
-Julius X
I'm kind of surprised, as I haven't really seen any posts backing up CmdrTaco on this one.
/. when such an anniversary comes about. She launched a net trend, the webcam, which should definitely be counted as "news for nerds". But in any case, it's definitely "stuff that matters."
Honestly, I agree with him, that Jennicam was the first(if not the first, than one of the first) sites on the internet that showed just to what degree someone could go on a website.
Jennicam is one of those sites that really shows why the internet is such a stronger medium than we've ever had available before, because one can expose themselves to the entire public, but at the same time, be completely hidden as well.
I, for one, admire Jenni, and think that she, if nothing else, deserves a little recognition on
(This isn't just pr0n here guys, take some time to actually read the site)
-Julius X
Well, according to an article I read on Voodoo Extreme, Wing Commander will no longer be made, as Origin is going to become an all-Ultima company.
Hrm. oh well....WC hasn't been good in a long time anyway.
-Julius X
Maybe we'll all get lucky this time, and actually something will be released. I"m tired of all this speculation and hype being spread from one place to another.....Someone please make a product and ship it!
-Julius X
Ok, I know I am not the only one asking this, but what is Battlesphere? I went to the web page, and it seems like a crappy space sim reminiscent of Wing Commander 1 - and that was released in 1990....
Why is this game so important that it took 6 years to develop and cost over $1000 on ebay?? I can't possibly imagine, from the old screenshots, that it could be that good.
-Julius X
I've always wanted to go to a demoparty....just don't exactly have the $$$$ to get there..... Maybe someday....
-Julius X
This exactly what I mean. I can't vouch with you on the POS line, I have ethernet here, but I know that people do, and I respect that.
My current homepage, at http://www.activewin.com/cponline/ was purposely done in almost no graphic or design elements, because that way anyone can view it. Some of the more content-oriented pages end up over 5k, but it's all in text, no flash, graphics, or javascript code... and it works on any
browser. (I happen to use IE5 when I'm on Windows, but my reasoning for that is that IE is a hell of a lot more standards-compliant than Netscape 4.xx ever has been--I'm looking forward to Mozilla).
Now most websites look nice on a graphical browser, but almost none of them give the option for a low-bandwidth version. I think that even if a site wants to pile on the DHTML, Images, and whatever else could be added to make the site look nice, they should still be giving a nice, clean, simple, 100% compatible, text-based alternative.
(Considering most of my web-related work is graphic design......this probably sounds a little ironic comng from me )
-Julius X
The page it links to,
http://www.activewin.com/cponline/inde x.html
was the one I was referring to. Sorry for the confusion.
-Julius X
5k is not a lot of space to do anything useful in....for any amount of text, it usually comes out more than that.
But....it can be done. My home page weighs in at 3199 bytes, and that's with graphics! The only thing is, they propose that most web pages should be small, similar to this, but most useful pages that have more than two or three paragraphs on them will swell to 10 or 20k, and that's without using any kinds of graphics.
50k for a web page is great, and having alternate slimmed-down versions for new wireless and lo-bandwidth devices is a good thing, but not all web pages should be 10-20k. You'd never get any useful information(above all--you would NEVER get to read Slashdot--the lite page was 40+kb!).
But in any case, looks like a good thing to try, similar to the 4096kb democompos that I think they still have at the demo parties in Europe.
-Julius X
I watched it, and although most of it was complete crap, I did admire the way a lot of it was handled.
Given: the technology to produce such "gamespaces" doesn't really exist right now, but in a few years, it might....and THAT would be cool.
About Mulders Disappearance: Has anyone given the thought that he didn't really disappear, that the program may have just made everyone think that he did? With the technology that was given in the game, it allowed that blank room to be converted into a warzone, including a dark alley or a Wild West fantasy. Who's to say that the computer, knowing what was up, didn't just create a room that -looked- like the regular room, while in reality, it was still inside the gamespace, with Mulder on the other side where the game was still being played out.
Sounds feasable enough to me...although I really don't want a computer game that can slice my arms off!
Cheers,
-Julius X
I completely agree with you--in part!
Many students I know--and I go to VA Tech Also--buy CDs and as you said, rip them for convienience sake. I have several friends who have ripped their entire CD collection.
But on the other hand, I have a few friends, most of them younger Freshman and such, who have swore never to buy a CD or Movie again because they can get it faster by just going on IRC and downloading the MP3s or ASF/MPGs of their selected media.
(sigh) kids today, eh? =)
-Julius X
Just checked, and Dotster's price is $25 per year, which is still cheaper than any other service that I've seen.
-Julius X
Dotster.com is what I used, and they gave me quick service and their registration fee was only $15/year(don't know if it's still that cheap though), which is $20 less than all other services. I highly recommend them.
-Julius X
Don't you mean, why is the 3120 larger than the 5400? I was a little suprised there myself.
-Julius X
You have a very valid point here. It does seem like a double standard exists on slashdot, and like you said, if they hate Katz as much as they say, why do they read his articles? (or perhaps they don't, but feel the need to flame him on it anyways).
If we as are to succeed in bringing those things that we strive for to the rest of the world, then we're going to have to act much more civilized than most of us currently do.
Julius X
My school has one of these....tried it last fall...
.
Check it out here
Very cool, seems to be the same thing the army is, quote 'developing'....and I know that this has been around for quite some time.
They actually ported Quake and Quake2 to these things, it's actually quite fun...unfortunately financial restraints keep us from doing too much deathmatching....something on the order of $10million a piece.......
But it does definitely feel -almost- real. It's pretty cool to have things come up at you in life size from all sides....hopefully the technology will get a good push and go down in price, I want one in my room
Julius X
But, of course, this isn't just one failure....only a few short months before the Polar Lander was to land, they lost another craft when they forgot to convert between metric and english measuring systems due to a miscommunication with the teams that built the craft.
Lately, NASA's been having some really bad luck...I think they're success rate is in the low 50's if not lower by now....Such a shame.
Julius X
Are you saying that news and information that we recieve now over TV, newspaper, etc isn't biased?? (I'm not specifically referring to the net here, but most "traditional" media formats, which seems to be what you're referring to).
It's been a LONG time since I've seen a news broadcast that wasn't geared towards making you think something or feel something the way they wanted it, just look at all the Y2K histeria that they created.
Then we have the printed media, with magazines that give their highest reviews to the highest advertiser and put the paid stories above the REAL news. The only thing that AOL could possibly make worse is to make it possible for us to get even more intrusive and annoying advertisements.
(BTW-on the subject of biased reviews, I think ZDnet would be the next prime candidate for AOL buyout....that would put all the best marketing power under one roof, and then completely destroy our lives, eh?)
It would seem our only hope might just be to hope the Government doesn't approve the merger....which is what I've got my money on. (and to keep supporting smaller, unbiased sites)
-C
Julius X