But, MKV being really a superior container on pretty much all fronts...
It may be superior technically, but from the standpoint of a typical video-watching HTPC user, MKV is a pain in the ass compared to old-fashioned AVIs. Some players have their own splitter built in--others require that you install a splitter.
I hate having to install yet another piece of software into the rendering path just to play MKVs.
The lack of a save and restore feature is definitely one of the things that makes nethack work so well. After putting in several hours carefully figuring out which potions do what and collecting decent armor and weapons, that D down the hall will be far scarier than any gorgeously rendered 3D dragon. After all, it can actually kill your character, not just send you back to the last save point.
Not everyone likes games with such high stakes. You see it as meaningful, high stakes, and exciting. I see it as a pain in the ass that keeps me from playing the game at all.
(Say, anyone know if there is a homebrew nethack for the Nintendo DS? Slow day at work, I should google that...)
I don't want to get into a conversation about the Electoral College (we've all been down that road!) but I do want to point out that getting rid of it would take an amendment to the Constitution.
In other words, to do it legally, you would have to convince many states to give up some of their power. And that's what the EC is for--it provides a disproportionate amount of power to smaller states, making their will count for more than their population size alone.
Getting those states to give up that power will be difficult, to say the least!
Americans seem to be terrfied of any kind of government provided or subsidised healthcare at any level, almost as if they see it as a "gateway drug" to communism - as comical as that appears to the rest of the world.
I am terrified of government health care simply because my government is incompetent. I do not trust them to put together a system that works well.
I'm very pleased that you have a good system over there, but I am skeptical of our ability to do it here. If we try, I fear we will have a result that gives us the worst of private and public systems at the same time.
The other day I read an article by an acclaimed doctor of economics, explaining how some kind of speculative investing was really driving up gas prices. Adding some kind of regulations to restrict those games should reduce gas prices, bringing them closer to the true "market" value.
Then I read a rebuttal from an equally well respected economist, who said at great length, "not."
So how is a lay person to really understand the economy?
With the country worried about terrorism, gas prices, the recession, and about half of us being terrified no matter who is in the White House next... I don't see space stuff getting a lot of attention.
I will consider us lucky if we keep getting funding for a probe now and then. The NASA manned program will probably not get a lot of attention--unless it is cut completely for political reasons. I suspect even the space station is not safe because the public may need a high profile sacrificial lamb someday soon.
It was years ago that I first cynically told myself, "we couldn't get back to the moon even if we wanted to." I am so sad that seems to be true.
Private industry, it's up to you. Make me proud to be a stockholder.:)
I bet it's on the "Kirkland Riviera," the part of downtown Kirkland that's right on the lake. There are even bikinis visible in the parks there during the three warm weeks of the year.
"I need to do X, and everyone else does it with Google, but I don't want to use Google so what else should I try? Also, I am a cheapskate who knows nothing about the issue."
But THIS guy... This guy has much bigger plans.
"What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year and still foster coordination over disparate time zones?"
He's not just buying an oscilloscope, or trying to find a way to do something without Google. He's solving one of humanity's problems.
Oonce we arrive at a solution, implementation will probably be trivial. I can hardly wait! (If there are any snags another Ask Slashdot should do the trick.)
"Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency..."
Transparency like that would really reduce the fear and surprise factors.
This sounds so crazy. Mass account creation? Directory services?
Back in MY day, if you wanted a school email account, you went to the lab underneath the library and tried to get the alpha geek's attention. If he found your manner pleasing, and if your papers were in order, you might get a VAX account.
Or, he might turn you into a newt. You took your chances.
It's kind of sad today, now that the magic is gone.
Police scanners are legal.* But it has been illegal for years to sell (or presumably build) a radio which can intercept cell phone signals.
Companies that sell scanners the US even had to modify their firmware to make it harder to unlock forbidden frequency bands. Originally, they'd make a simple firmware change, or a jumper change inside, but people who buy scanners are kind of nerdy and they figured out how to open up the receive range. The gov't forced them to make that harder to accomplish.
With phones being digital now, and I guess encrypted, a radio that can receive cell phone signals isn't so interesting. But back in the day, with a pre-ban scanner, you could tune in to analog mobile calls.
I mean really, if it was so obvious and simple why is it that every other damned commercial DVR out there sucks ass?
The problem with crappy DVRs is crappy GUI designers, or crappy executives who tie their hands and push crap out the door into the helpless, captive market.
There is nothing TECHNICALLY preventing my Dish HD DVR from being pretty good, as far as I can tell. It was just designed by a sadist with ADD and a head injury.
The hardware under the awful GUI can record 3 HD streams (1 OTA + 2 sat) while playing back 1 HD and 1 SD recording, and do it without getting laggy. That ain't bad. (Did they steal that technology from Tivo? I don't know.)
You have to go CHOOSE a Tivo and pay for it, when you probably already have a "free" cable box at home. Under those circumstances, polish and ease of use are critical. I don't think Dish/Comcast/etc. have the same standards for what they push on their customers. (I am surprised that Dish's DVR is as good as it is; it's actually usable, barely.)
Judging by the experience posted, it looks like some people are holding back on the social networking thing and finding it difficult because of peer pressure pushing them into it. Interesting how society forces a body to conform.
Maybe it is age related. I am pushing 40 and I only encounter occasional inconvenience from not using MyBook and FaceSpace. Many people in my age group do use those kinds of sites, but it has not (yet?) become critical for communication.
Mostly, I hate needing to sign up for an account in order to see a link someone has sent me. It's a hassle. The privacy thing is a secondary concern, though I admit is is freaky that if I went "all in" my ex wife would be a click away from reading about whoever I was dating.
Q: Who wants to live like that? A: Most people, apparently!
PS: The next person who sends me a Plaxo invitation is going to get... going to get a strongly worded letter, yes indeed.
I have serious doubts as to their projected costs. This will have changed so radically in 4 years that these predictions are about as stable as gas predictions that far out.
Then at least we can agree prices are only going up!
I believe some journalists have already experienced exactly this type of pre-emptive arrest at the RNC convention, I don't believe they were particularly impressed with the concept.
The G1, like the iPhone and T-Mobile's Sidekick, will have its SIM card slot locked to prevent the use of other carriers' subscriber-identity module cards.
Every GSM phone you buy from a US carrier is locked.
Think of Slashdot as a bar you go to after work. Sure, you'll hear some serious conversations, but you'll hear a lot more people telling jokes and enjoying themselves away from the office.
And think of the people complaining about jokes here as the coworkers that no one likes, who never get invited to that bar.
Slashdot Mirror
Tons of white folks voted AGAINST him for no reason but skin color or perceived religion
The fact that he won, and by a good margin, means that there can't be "tons" of those people.
Even one is too many, but... his election shows that people aren't as bad as you think they are.
But, MKV being really a superior container on pretty much all fronts...
It may be superior technically, but from the standpoint of a typical video-watching HTPC user, MKV is a pain in the ass compared to old-fashioned AVIs. Some players have their own splitter built in--others require that you install a splitter.
I hate having to install yet another piece of software into the rendering path just to play MKVs.
The lack of a save and restore feature is definitely one of the things that makes nethack work so well. After putting in several hours carefully figuring out which potions do what and collecting decent armor and weapons, that D down the hall will be far scarier than any gorgeously rendered 3D dragon. After all, it can actually kill your character, not just send you back to the last save point.
Not everyone likes games with such high stakes. You see it as meaningful, high stakes, and exciting. I see it as a pain in the ass that keeps me from playing the game at all.
(Say, anyone know if there is a homebrew nethack for the Nintendo DS? Slow day at work, I should google that...)
I don't want to get into a conversation about the Electoral College (we've all been down that road!) but I do want to point out that getting rid of it would take an amendment to the Constitution.
In other words, to do it legally, you would have to convince many states to give up some of their power. And that's what the EC is for--it provides a disproportionate amount of power to smaller states, making their will count for more than their population size alone.
Getting those states to give up that power will be difficult, to say the least!
Americans seem to be terrfied of any kind of government provided or subsidised healthcare at any level, almost as if they see it as a "gateway drug" to communism - as comical as that appears to the rest of the world.
I am terrified of government health care simply because my government is incompetent. I do not trust them to put together a system that works well.
I'm very pleased that you have a good system over there, but I am skeptical of our ability to do it here. If we try, I fear we will have a result that gives us the worst of private and public systems at the same time.
If the cost of fixing Iraq is a few more billion dollars and some dead Americans, that is the price the Americans have to pay.
As an American, I agree.
Unfortunately I fear it is unfixable, so I don't know what to do.
Does ANYONE know how the economy works?
The other day I read an article by an acclaimed doctor of economics, explaining how some kind of speculative investing was really driving up gas prices. Adding some kind of regulations to restrict those games should reduce gas prices, bringing them closer to the true "market" value.
Then I read a rebuttal from an equally well respected economist, who said at great length, "not."
So how is a lay person to really understand the economy?
With the country worried about terrorism, gas prices, the recession, and about half of us being terrified no matter who is in the White House next... I don't see space stuff getting a lot of attention.
I will consider us lucky if we keep getting funding for a probe now and then. The NASA manned program will probably not get a lot of attention--unless it is cut completely for political reasons. I suspect even the space station is not safe because the public may need a high profile sacrificial lamb someday soon.
It was years ago that I first cynically told myself, "we couldn't get back to the moon even if we wanted to." I am so sad that seems to be true.
Private industry, it's up to you. Make me proud to be a stockholder. :)
Yeah, I saw that in an article shortly after I posted. I still consider that part of the "Kirkland Riviera" though. :)
I bet it's on the "Kirkland Riviera," the part of downtown Kirkland that's right on the lake. There are even bikinis visible in the parks there during the three warm weeks of the year.
I live nearby. I should polish up my resume. ;)
Most of the time, the questions are like this:
"I need to do X, and everyone else does it with Google, but I don't want to use Google so what else should I try? Also, I am a cheapskate who knows nothing about the issue."
But THIS guy... This guy has much bigger plans.
"What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year and still foster coordination over disparate time zones?"
He's not just buying an oscilloscope, or trying to find a way to do something without Google. He's solving one of humanity's problems.
Oonce we arrive at a solution, implementation will probably be trivial. I can hardly wait! (If there are any snags another Ask Slashdot should do the trick.)
The only Spore ads I saw were on TV and I don't remember them saying anything about its accuracy or educational value.
So where exactly are the marketing materials that claim Spore is accurate and educational? If they exist, then yes, shame on EA.
If they don't, then shame on whoever is trying to pick a fight.
"Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency..."
Transparency like that would really reduce the fear and surprise factors.
This sounds so crazy. Mass account creation? Directory services?
Back in MY day, if you wanted a school email account, you went to the lab underneath the library and tried to get the alpha geek's attention. If he found your manner pleasing, and if your papers were in order, you might get a VAX account.
Or, he might turn you into a newt. You took your chances.
It's kind of sad today, now that the magic is gone.
Police scanners are legal.* But it has been illegal for years to sell (or presumably build) a radio which can intercept cell phone signals.
Companies that sell scanners the US even had to modify their firmware to make it harder to unlock forbidden frequency bands. Originally, they'd make a simple firmware change, or a jumper change inside, but people who buy scanners are kind of nerdy and they figured out how to open up the receive range. The gov't forced them to make that harder to accomplish.
With phones being digital now, and I guess encrypted, a radio that can receive cell phone signals isn't so interesting. But back in the day, with a pre-ban scanner, you could tune in to analog mobile calls.
* For now, eh?
I mean really, if it was so obvious and simple why is it that every other damned commercial DVR out there sucks ass?
The problem with crappy DVRs is crappy GUI designers, or crappy executives who tie their hands and push crap out the door into the helpless, captive market.
There is nothing TECHNICALLY preventing my Dish HD DVR from being pretty good, as far as I can tell. It was just designed by a sadist with ADD and a head injury.
The hardware under the awful GUI can record 3 HD streams (1 OTA + 2 sat) while playing back 1 HD and 1 SD recording, and do it without getting laggy. That ain't bad. (Did they steal that technology from Tivo? I don't know.)
You have to go CHOOSE a Tivo and pay for it, when you probably already have a "free" cable box at home. Under those circumstances, polish and ease of use are critical. I don't think Dish/Comcast/etc. have the same standards for what they push on their customers. (I am surprised that Dish's DVR is as good as it is; it's actually usable, barely.)
PS I miss ReplayTV too!
Judging by the experience posted, it looks like some people are holding back on the social networking thing and finding it difficult because of peer pressure pushing them into it. Interesting how society forces a body to conform.
Maybe it is age related. I am pushing 40 and I only encounter occasional inconvenience from not using MyBook and FaceSpace. Many people in my age group do use those kinds of sites, but it has not (yet?) become critical for communication.
Mostly, I hate needing to sign up for an account in order to see a link someone has sent me. It's a hassle. The privacy thing is a secondary concern, though I admit is is freaky that if I went "all in" my ex wife would be a click away from reading about whoever I was dating.
Q: Who wants to live like that?
A: Most people, apparently!
PS: The next person who sends me a Plaxo invitation is going to get... going to get a strongly worded letter, yes indeed.
I have serious doubts as to their projected costs. This will have changed so radically in 4 years that these predictions are about as stable as gas predictions that far out.
Then at least we can agree prices are only going up!
So we have this great project... Now what is the $89 deal of the century on hardware to use it with?
I am too cheap to pay $30/mo for mobile internet on my phone. A service beamed from OUTER SPACE doesn't sound like it is going to be a bargain.
The mobile internet that I am using in 10 years will be cheap, or I will be relying on unicorn-rare wlan hot spots as I do today.
I believe some journalists have already experienced exactly this type of pre-emptive arrest at the RNC convention, I don't believe they were particularly impressed with the concept.
Wasn't that the DNC?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Conventions/story?id=5668622
Neither party is blameless and I fear that whoever the next President is, we'll keep sliding.
The G1, like the iPhone and T-Mobile's Sidekick, will have its SIM card slot locked to prevent the use of other carriers' subscriber-identity module cards.
Every GSM phone you buy from a US carrier is locked.
Look, let's just ring up General Products. The Puppeteers probably make exactly the kind of cable we need.
Whoever calls, pick me up a Number Two hull if they have any left. I'm good for it.
I came to this thread for +5 Funnies like I couldn't even imagine.
I was not disappointed.
Think of Slashdot as a bar you go to after work. Sure, you'll hear some serious conversations, but you'll hear a lot more people telling jokes and enjoying themselves away from the office.
And think of the people complaining about jokes here as the coworkers that no one likes, who never get invited to that bar.