Personal recordings are fantastic, as long as there's still a way to play them later. This is something that can not be replaced by a written greeting.
After my grandfather passed away several years ago, we found some old vinyl recordings sent as an audio greeting to my grandmother while he was stationed in the Aleutian Islands. We're still looking for a way to transfer them, since they're not a standard rotational speed in use anymore. Needless to say, I don't think we'd care nearly as much if the records were big band songs.
You're correct, the battery will probably be effectively dead in 17 years. Assuming that 20% loss of battery life per year, that leaves 2.5% at the end of 17 years.
However, a proper charging adapter provides power to the iPod while plugged in, while still allowing the iPod to be used. This means that it's no longer functional as a mobile player, but should still fulfill its purpose while plugged in. Better than nothing.
Yup, thanks for pointing him to that information. The only iPods to use flash memory (to my knowledge)are the iPod shuffle, which does not have a video screen, or the iPod touch. The good old basic iPods (which I should have specified, as opposed to the touch) have always used HDDs, since they're cost effective and provide a relatively large amount of storage.
This leads to a good question, will a solid state hard drive survive 16 years without data corruption? If it is a platter hard drive, the best you are looking at is 8-10 years. The life span of platter drive decreases if it is not accessed.
An SSD will almost certainly last 16 years, it just won't have any data left on it.
A platter HDD might not run after 16 years, but the data will certainly still be there. Basically, keep the HDD in a static-safe bag with a little bag of dessicant to keep it dry and you can minimize the electonic and mechanical failures. And, even if the drive fails, it would be possible to recover the platters and their data, though only time will tell if that will get cheaper or more expensive with time. It's certainly the safer bet, though.
Most flash drive manufacturers state that their drives are not good for archival storage. They expect to lose data before 10 years have passed.
This is absolutely correct, no flash memory. Unlike hard drives (and tapes, for completeness), which store data as magnetic regions, flash memory stores actual electric charge. While the magnetic domains on an HDD are permanent (unless overwritten or degaussed), the small charge in each flash media bit will slowly leak away. The drive should still be usable, it just won't have your data on it anymore.
A portable hard drive might be the best solution, for its small size and relative permanence of data. Perhaps even an iPod, preloaded with music that it can play, pictures and video it can watch, and files that (assuming USB and the files system are still around) will also be available. One iPod with everyone's files could be a good split, and a great trip down memory lane. Just be sure to pack in a USB wall charging socket, just in case.
Here's hoping that's the case. I was concerned that District 9 was just going to be generic action movie set in an alien refuge camp, but reviews of the final product told me this wasn't the case. I'm still hoping for true sci-fi, but if that's what Cameron is going for, then he's advertising it the wrong way.
From TFA: Worst of all, I don't believe that it will be a 'science-fiction film' any more than Star Wars...
I'm sorry, I must be out of the loop? Since when is Star Wars not sci-fi? Is there a real empire? A real rebel alliance? A real death star, force, tie fighters, x-wing fighters, light saber, etc?
He's just pointing out the difference between mainstream science fiction (more similar to fantasy, only in space/with aliens/in the future) and hard science fiction (usually intended to explore consequences of actions/technology/society).
Star Wars was the first category, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I certainly love it. District 9 was the latter category, exploring what it means to be human, the rights of aliens, and much more. Avatar looks cartoony, which seems to imply science-fantasy. However, perhaps the actual content will surprise us and raise a good exploration of topics. Since we only have the visuals to go by, that's what people are doing.
Personally, I'm not holding my breath expecting Hollywood to pleasently surprise me, but I won't swear off the movie just yet.
That was my first impression as well. It doesn't do much to convince me that the movie will be legitimate science-fiction, rather than fluffy science-fantasy, when the aliens are bright anime-blue with giant cartoon doe-eyes.
That said, it will probably sell like gangbusters for this very reason. However, it's absolutely not going to kill the science-fiction film genre. For proof, check District 9. One guy marketing something as sci-fi doesn't kill the legitimate movies for those who know what they're looking for. Even if that person is James Cameron.
Yup, second only to Wired in terms of "articles anyone with passing knowledge of the topic beforehand will realize are complete Bullshit". It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't somewhat aimed at the technical crowd.
IIRC, her belief was that the blog might have been written by somebody close to her (ex-boyfriend or similar), and thus someone she would want to press charges against. Of course, the only way to know if it was someone close to her was to sue and get the identity.
I wouldn't say this is an abuse of the system, since if the blogger was someone she knew, I'll bet charges would have been pressed. That said, there are certainly circumstances where the system could be abused, but this isn't one of the,.
Or, you know, they bought their XBox back when it was over $100 cheaper than the PS3 and there were more must-have titles. Things have since leveled out, but that gap made at the start of the generation has remained.
I've also always enjoyed the irony of a fanboy complaining about other fanboys, though. So delicious.
That works both ways, since the PC guys are enjoying Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Dead Space, Forza Motorsport, Gears of War, Beautiful Katamari, Too Human, and Fable. You play on the console where your favorite games are. Obviously you're an RTS and strategy guy. Don't be so cocky as to assume you are the only person with 'proper' taste in video games.
Regardless, it seems MS has gained loyalty. I's certainly rare that anyone switches consoles during this generation. One would expect that if it was really such a poor experience to have an Xbox that fails 50% of the time that more than 4% of users would give up on the brand. That doesn't seem to be the case.
All bets are off come the next generation, of course. However, these numbers seem to point towards the idea that hardware failures are driving people away from the 360 in droves being FUD.
2. Government schools. We already throw away more money per student than most countries and we piss away a lot on the worst schools. See our nation's capital, Washington D.C. for a vivid example.
Of course, the problem is that the ailing schools need money fix their problems. Not in a "dump cash in them until they're better" way, but in a "we're not going to be able to attract good teachers and bring facilities up to par without spending some money.
The even bigger problem is that we don't have a way to judge success in a reliable manner. Standardized tests are the worst method, yet the most prevalent. In some states, low performing schools get their budgets cut. When this is a school half filled with immigrants who do not know English yet, they fail the reading and writing portions and the school is labeled 'failing'. What does the state do? Pull their funding of course! But, how do you find time to teach students English, and teach them to the test to meet standards, and all on less money?
It's absolutely a philisophical problem, but it's definitely linked to economics. We just need to be sure we're sufficiently funding working programs, rather than just tossing money at a hole in the hopes it will close up.
Since they're replacing the failed units, and under an extended warranty based on the increased rate of several failure modes, I would guess when MS stops honoring warranties.
Exactly. It's also a volunteer poll, meaning only those who took the time to complete it are counted. Those with a console failure are much more likely to fill out the poll. I'm pretty sure the PS3 failure rate isn't 10% either.
But yeah, bad indicator for Microsoft and this new information actually caused me to wait to buy an Xbox 360 at the new reduced price. I think the 3.8% figure of repeat business is a good indicator that a lot of people agree.
Whoa, horsie! You've got that backwards.
Regardless of everything above, people still love their Xbox 360s. Just 3.8 percent of respondents said they wouldn't buy another Xbox because of system failures, according to Game Informer.
So even though only 37.7% found the customer service 'very helpful' (how many found it to be 'helpful'?), 96.2% still would buy another XBox.
That said, these are also lifetime numbers. I would be very surprised if the failure rate of the remaining consoles in households is still 50%, or even anywhere close.
In this instance, not only is calling someone a "skank" an opinion
Maybe, but psychotic is a medical term.
So he should be sued for practicing medicine without a license?
No, for libel. The claim would be that the author knowingly and maliciously made a false statement about the target's medical status. This is the very definition of libel, and would be a legitimate claim.
Harmonix has never shied away from picking the deeper cuts from a discography, rather than just the most popular hits. That said, this game is still chock full of #1 singles, as well as the b-sides. So, what about those songs do you think makes them more expensive to license?
Makes perfect sense to me to go by the fun factor rather than chart position or sales. "Love Me Do" was their first #1 hit in the US, but the melody is all harmonica. Similarly with "Elanor Rigby" and violin. Put the most fun songs on the disk, then release most of the rest of the discography as DLC to allow everyone to pick and choose their favorite of the others.
Comparing it to simon is an uninspired straw man because it intentionally ignores the music aspect which is the whole point. You could use the same logic and claim that playing music is just pushing buttons to a metronome.
Exactly. It's far more music than game that makes it enjoyable. That said, Rock Band focuses more on the music aspect while Guitar Hero is focused more on the game and competitive aspects.
Alternatively, one could claim that they didn't understand the fun in games with shooting other people. I mean, maybe if I were really drunk with some friends, but I don't think you could 'play' that. Besides, every new game is the same, just with different guns, things to shoot, and places to do it in.
Their number one priority is minimizing control latency and jitter. Where music is concerned, even a 15ms discrepency is noticable by the human mind. Since it's all about the gameplay (if not, they'd just make animated music videos), sometimes the graphics will need to be scaled back so that gameplay doesn't suffer at the expense of (unnecessary) bump-mapping and HDR.
That said, while the new games tend to suffer from the same common shading issues that are common on their host consoles, I think it's quite an exhaggeration to say they look crappy. They might not be Crysis, but they're definitely screenshot-worthy.
Absolutely, but the answer to the problem is not to let people make unreferenced edits. The answer is to get rid of the fuckwits so that good, referenced updates get kept.
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Personal recordings are fantastic, as long as there's still a way to play them later. This is something that can not be replaced by a written greeting.
After my grandfather passed away several years ago, we found some old vinyl recordings sent as an audio greeting to my grandmother while he was stationed in the Aleutian Islands. We're still looking for a way to transfer them, since they're not a standard rotational speed in use anymore. Needless to say, I don't think we'd care nearly as much if the records were big band songs.
You're correct, the battery will probably be effectively dead in 17 years. Assuming that 20% loss of battery life per year, that leaves 2.5% at the end of 17 years.
However, a proper charging adapter provides power to the iPod while plugged in, while still allowing the iPod to be used. This means that it's no longer functional as a mobile player, but should still fulfill its purpose while plugged in. Better than nothing.
Yup, thanks for pointing him to that information. The only iPods to use flash memory (to my knowledge)are the iPod shuffle, which does not have a video screen, or the iPod touch. The good old basic iPods (which I should have specified, as opposed to the touch) have always used HDDs, since they're cost effective and provide a relatively large amount of storage.
This leads to a good question, will a solid state hard drive survive 16 years without data corruption? If it is a platter hard drive, the best you are looking at is 8-10 years. The life span of platter drive decreases if it is not accessed.
An SSD will almost certainly last 16 years, it just won't have any data left on it.
A platter HDD might not run after 16 years, but the data will certainly still be there. Basically, keep the HDD in a static-safe bag with a little bag of dessicant to keep it dry and you can minimize the electonic and mechanical failures. And, even if the drive fails, it would be possible to recover the platters and their data, though only time will tell if that will get cheaper or more expensive with time. It's certainly the safer bet, though.
Most flash drive manufacturers state that their drives are not good for archival storage. They expect to lose data before 10 years have passed.
This is absolutely correct, no flash memory. Unlike hard drives (and tapes, for completeness), which store data as magnetic regions, flash memory stores actual electric charge. While the magnetic domains on an HDD are permanent (unless overwritten or degaussed), the small charge in each flash media bit will slowly leak away. The drive should still be usable, it just won't have your data on it anymore.
A portable hard drive might be the best solution, for its small size and relative permanence of data. Perhaps even an iPod, preloaded with music that it can play, pictures and video it can watch, and files that (assuming USB and the files system are still around) will also be available. One iPod with everyone's files could be a good split, and a great trip down memory lane. Just be sure to pack in a USB wall charging socket, just in case.
Here's hoping that's the case. I was concerned that District 9 was just going to be generic action movie set in an alien refuge camp, but reviews of the final product told me this wasn't the case. I'm still hoping for true sci-fi, but if that's what Cameron is going for, then he's advertising it the wrong way.
From TFA: Worst of all, I don't believe that it will be a 'science-fiction film' any more than Star Wars... I'm sorry, I must be out of the loop? Since when is Star Wars not sci-fi? Is there a real empire? A real rebel alliance? A real death star, force, tie fighters, x-wing fighters, light saber, etc?
He's just pointing out the difference between mainstream science fiction (more similar to fantasy, only in space/with aliens/in the future) and hard science fiction (usually intended to explore consequences of actions/technology/society).
Star Wars was the first category, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I certainly love it. District 9 was the latter category, exploring what it means to be human, the rights of aliens, and much more. Avatar looks cartoony, which seems to imply science-fantasy. However, perhaps the actual content will surprise us and raise a good exploration of topics. Since we only have the visuals to go by, that's what people are doing.
Personally, I'm not holding my breath expecting Hollywood to pleasently surprise me, but I won't swear off the movie just yet.
That was my first impression as well. It doesn't do much to convince me that the movie will be legitimate science-fiction, rather than fluffy science-fantasy, when the aliens are bright anime-blue with giant cartoon doe-eyes.
That said, it will probably sell like gangbusters for this very reason. However, it's absolutely not going to kill the science-fiction film genre. For proof, check District 9. One guy marketing something as sci-fi doesn't kill the legitimate movies for those who know what they're looking for. Even if that person is James Cameron.
C'mon, this is CNET.
Yup, second only to Wired in terms of "articles anyone with passing knowledge of the topic beforehand will realize are complete Bullshit". It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't somewhat aimed at the technical crowd.
IIRC, her belief was that the blog might have been written by somebody close to her (ex-boyfriend or similar), and thus someone she would want to press charges against. Of course, the only way to know if it was someone close to her was to sue and get the identity.
I wouldn't say this is an abuse of the system, since if the blogger was someone she knew, I'll bet charges would have been pressed. That said, there are certainly circumstances where the system could be abused, but this isn't one of the,.
Or, you know, they bought their XBox back when it was over $100 cheaper than the PS3 and there were more must-have titles. Things have since leveled out, but that gap made at the start of the generation has remained.
I've also always enjoyed the irony of a fanboy complaining about other fanboys, though. So delicious.
That works both ways, since the PC guys are enjoying Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Dead Space, Forza Motorsport, Gears of War, Beautiful Katamari, Too Human, and Fable. You play on the console where your favorite games are. Obviously you're an RTS and strategy guy. Don't be so cocky as to assume you are the only person with 'proper' taste in video games.
That makes you a douchebag.
Correct. More accurately, 96% have not been dissuaded from purchasing another Xbox because of system failures.
Wow, what a level headed assesment. I'm glad you're totally not a fanboy...
Regardless, it seems MS has gained loyalty. I's certainly rare that anyone switches consoles during this generation. One would expect that if it was really such a poor experience to have an Xbox that fails 50% of the time that more than 4% of users would give up on the brand. That doesn't seem to be the case.
All bets are off come the next generation, of course. However, these numbers seem to point towards the idea that hardware failures are driving people away from the 360 in droves being FUD.
2. Government schools. We already throw away more money per student than most countries and we piss away a lot on the worst schools. See our nation's capital, Washington D.C. for a vivid example.
Of course, the problem is that the ailing schools need money fix their problems. Not in a "dump cash in them until they're better" way, but in a "we're not going to be able to attract good teachers and bring facilities up to par without spending some money.
The even bigger problem is that we don't have a way to judge success in a reliable manner. Standardized tests are the worst method, yet the most prevalent. In some states, low performing schools get their budgets cut. When this is a school half filled with immigrants who do not know English yet, they fail the reading and writing portions and the school is labeled 'failing'. What does the state do? Pull their funding of course! But, how do you find time to teach students English, and teach them to the test to meet standards, and all on less money?
It's absolutely a philisophical problem, but it's definitely linked to economics. We just need to be sure we're sufficiently funding working programs, rather than just tossing money at a hole in the hopes it will close up.
Since they're replacing the failed units, and under an extended warranty based on the increased rate of several failure modes, I would guess when MS stops honoring warranties.
Exactly. It's also a volunteer poll, meaning only those who took the time to complete it are counted. Those with a console failure are much more likely to fill out the poll. I'm pretty sure the PS3 failure rate isn't 10% either.
But yeah, bad indicator for Microsoft and this new information actually caused me to wait to buy an Xbox 360 at the new reduced price. I think the 3.8% figure of repeat business is a good indicator that a lot of people agree.
Whoa, horsie! You've got that backwards.
So even though only 37.7% found the customer service 'very helpful' (how many found it to be 'helpful'?), 96.2% still would buy another XBox.
That said, these are also lifetime numbers. I would be very surprised if the failure rate of the remaining consoles in households is still 50%, or even anywhere close.
Larger computers are already more powerful in general than the same generation of smaller computers.
Small, fast, and cheap: pick two.
Maybe, but psychotic is a medical term.
So he should be sued for practicing medicine without a license?
No, for libel. The claim would be that the author knowingly and maliciously made a false statement about the target's medical status. This is the very definition of libel, and would be a legitimate claim.
Harmonix has never shied away from picking the deeper cuts from a discography, rather than just the most popular hits. That said, this game is still chock full of #1 singles, as well as the b-sides. So, what about those songs do you think makes them more expensive to license?
Makes perfect sense to me to go by the fun factor rather than chart position or sales. "Love Me Do" was their first #1 hit in the US, but the melody is all harmonica. Similarly with "Elanor Rigby" and violin. Put the most fun songs on the disk, then release most of the rest of the discography as DLC to allow everyone to pick and choose their favorite of the others.
Comparing it to simon is an uninspired straw man because it intentionally ignores the music aspect which is the whole point. You could use the same logic and claim that playing music is just pushing buttons to a metronome.
Exactly. It's far more music than game that makes it enjoyable. That said, Rock Band focuses more on the music aspect while Guitar Hero is focused more on the game and competitive aspects.
Alternatively, one could claim that they didn't understand the fun in games with shooting other people. I mean, maybe if I were really drunk with some friends, but I don't think you could 'play' that. Besides, every new game is the same, just with different guns, things to shoot, and places to do it in.
I just don't get it.
Their number one priority is minimizing control latency and jitter. Where music is concerned, even a 15ms discrepency is noticable by the human mind. Since it's all about the gameplay (if not, they'd just make animated music videos), sometimes the graphics will need to be scaled back so that gameplay doesn't suffer at the expense of (unnecessary) bump-mapping and HDR.
That said, while the new games tend to suffer from the same common shading issues that are common on their host consoles, I think it's quite an exhaggeration to say they look crappy. They might not be Crysis, but they're definitely screenshot-worthy.
Absolutely, but the answer to the problem is not to let people make unreferenced edits. The answer is to get rid of the fuckwits so that good, referenced updates get kept.