Firstly, as mentioned in the transgaming forum, the twat that got all worked up about this has been using Gentoo for a grand total of 13 days, and he still has the nerve to mobilise everyone..to comlain[sic]../. will publish anything these days!!
How foolish we are to follow someone so blindly. If you look at the reference to how long the guy has been posting, it is August 3 2003, not 2004. So, the dude has been running Gentoo for quite some time.
The fact that Norton Corporate Edition isn't supported in the Security Center is a GOOD thing.<snip>
I hear what you are saying and I totally agree, but Microsoft's security screen reporting the status as red, which will probably bring pause to other, less informed users in the house. Thankfully, I just found that the setting on the right "Change the way Security Center alerts me" allows me to turn off this warning. I would imagine it is by design, but that setting wasn't all together obvious.
Things truely do seem to be snappy. I am not sure where to attribute this, but it is welcome.
My notebook has wireless which had the annoying habit of showing that there wasn't a wireless connection (the disconnected red x) coming out of hibernation even though it was fully operational. That appears to be fixed.
I was afraid that the firewall would prove to be annoying, but it actually works pretty well. When I load ICQ, Activestate Komodo, or other applications that try and used blocked ports, it pops up asking if I want to unblock things. The old SP1 firewall didn't do this.
IE's popup blocker is pretty slick. It will show a little dropdown area above the current page asking about the popup, if it should be displayed, etc. Neat. I do wish Firefox would do this instead of the small icon in the lower right of Firefox's window. It isn't enough to make me stop using Firefox, though.
Now, for the stuff I find annoying.
Their Windows Security Alerts interface isn't compatible with my corporate Norton I have from my work place. It isn't a big whoop, but I am surprised they don't work together.
Some of my folder settings have changed. I am not sure why, but Microsoft feels the status bar shouldn't be on by default. To hit this point home, it changed it back to disabled after the install. Come on.....
Along those lines, they decided to mess with my sound scheme. I normally turn all of that off, but sure enough after reboot it is back in all its glory!
A lot of the wireless stuff has been funneled into wizards, need to find a way to turn that stuff off.
IE and PNG is still pretty broken. Alpha doesn't work, and that problem where the colors are slightly off of what they actually are is still there. You would have thought that they would have addressed some of that stuff!
There you go, a user's point of view. Take it for what it's worth....
- and the remote was pretty sexy (anyone wanna help me write a driver for Linux?)
Take a look at the LIRC 0.7.0 snapshots. The Microsoft remote has been in there for quite some time and works well. In fact, you can use the IR receiver that comes with it and quite a few compatible IR remotes.
I have MythTV set up with a PVR-250 and it's the best thing ever.
Hear hear! I have a Myth server running two Hauppauge PVR 250s and it is smooth. The guide is smart enough that I just select two shows to record and it handles the rest. The best part is that I have a Myth client running in the main TV room that is a stripped down Dell 4600c which I got refurbished for $360that fits perfectly into the entertainment center. All the advantages of the two tuners, but the quiet-ness of a small form factor PC. Awesome stuff AND two TVs can use the same recording repository!
He Might Be Passe, But What He Is Doing Isn't
on
Wired on McBride
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
He is bland, a braggart, and doesn't know when to shut up, but what he is trying to do (namely, the profit off of intellectual property) cannot be ignored. The wired article makes a great point on the last page: "Darl McBride is right about one thing: There's a big problem with Linux. <snip> The problem is that the free operating system created by Torvalds and his collaborators is poorly documented."
To be honest, if it wasn't going to be McBride, it would be someone else down the line that would exploit this little problem. Most open source advocates would hate to say it, but with this kind of question looming over Linux as an operating system, some bigger companies won't look at it in the same light as they would, say, Microsoft Windows or Sun Solaris. It is good that, not unlike a band-aid, this is getting done now so that even the big corporations can know what most of us already do; without a question or a doubt, Linux is safe to use.
I see no windmills here, but a true dragon that needs to be slayed.
Uhem. It was a joke. Troy McClure from the Simpsons is always associated with really stinker titles. The punch line is that, while they have some impressive talent doing secondary voices, they would hire a no talent hack to be the lead. It wasn't a take on Valve's story telling. It wasn't a slam on the late, great Phil Hartman. It was light humor. I guess if I have to explain it, though, it isn't that funny......
I had heard they were going to hire Troy McClure to play Freeman. You might remember him from such films as "The Greatest Story Ever Hula-ed" and "They Came to Burgle Carnegie Hall".
Just to keep things in perspective, I don't really care how powerful "any" game platform is, console/pc/other. I think we are past the point of the "bit wars", or that is comparing hardware.
Someone should mod this up; it is an excellent point! In the whole history of game-dom, hardware has never been an indicator of a system's success (except maybe once with the PS1, more on that later). The Sega Master System was more advanced than the NES. SNES was more advanced than the Genesis. Hell, the 3DO was more advanced than anything when it first came out. How did those hardware battles turn out? The opposite of the specs. Every time. It all comes down to the software support.
The PS1 was an interesting anomoly in that their system and the Saturn were built to do two different things. Sony caught the gaming industry at a time that it was being wowwed by 3d graphics. Sega chose poorly with their system design focusing on 2D, Sony chose wisely.
That does bring us back to Microsoft and the Xbox2. To be honest, I can't say that I am impressed with their software so far on the Xbox with the last game I played in any detail being Ninja Gaiden and befor that Halo. In fact, this has kept the dust layer thick on that system while my PS2 gets constant play (Jak2, VF4E, Gran Tarismo, Kingdom Hearts, etc). If Microsoft wants to win this next battle, they need to get their software quality to match up with their hardware quality.
Thanks for the correction. Due to the ol' company firewall, the only info I could find was an ATI press release which mentioned the QAM with the onboard chip; all those review sites are blocked!
What we NEED, and I mean REALLY NEED, is the ability to get HDTV from sources we in the real world actually USE (cable and sattelite)<snip>
That is what you get. The ATI comes with a tuner that not only supports OTA but also QAM so you can plug your local cable company's line into the card and get a signal. Now, that doesn't get you the encrypted stuff (ESPNHD, HBO), you will need a box for that, but will get you locals. That is the case for Cox Cable here in Omaha, NE.
AT BEST, with your HDTV OTA card you will get marginal quality from a handful of HDTV channels.
What are you talking about? If you compare the same content delivered over the air to that delievered via cable, it is all the same digital signal, not marginal quality. End of story. Now, reception of that signal might not be great, but if you do get a lock of about 60% or greater, it is the same. Again, this is my experience here in Omaha.
Company Y is on tap to port said game to a console.
Company Y then touts exclusive features and content for only that console.
Company X then releases the tools to mod the software.
Modder W comes along and writes the sofware to fully recreate the exclusive content of Company Y (minus the intellectual property like graphics and such, of course).
Wouldn't this mean, even though it comes from the user supported modding community, that the console version doesn't have exclusive content anymore?
In the case of Doom3, I would think that this would lead to some enterprising person writing the code and getting a good start before the Xbox version hits the streets.
I thought you could only get the "screen door" effect with an LCD - where you could see lines in-between the pixels (thus the term "screen door"). I think the effect you mention is just the case of having only so many pixels, but is not "screen door".
Actually, it will affect both. Since both systems are pixel based, you can see the little squares that make up the image. DLP is less affected by it, as seen at this link.
Bulb life is always and issue. Most are rated up to around 8000 hours (if you watched six hours a day, it would wash out to about 3.5 years). When you need to replace that bulb, it will set you back another $400-$500.
They don't offer true HD resolutions. 1386 x 788 is about as high as they go which will resolve 720p just fine. But, that means 1080i would need to be down converted to fit the screen, a process that I have personally seen introduce jaggies to an otherwise beautiful picture.
The dreaded screen door effect. If you blow up your DLP projector too big, you will see what is called the screen door effect where you can make out each pixel of the DLP chip. Not too pretty. Go to your local AV shop and get real close to the screen to actually see them. If you are not careful, you can make those big enough to be seen from all over the room.
My beef is the lack of true 1080i support. Supposedly, the LCOS chips coming will be able to support 1080i, but I haven't actually seen these projectors yet.
As someone mentioned above, you need to determine the needs of the projector and if true HD resolution is one of them, hold off for now.
I guess it is all about the context of which you are viewing the animation. Films like Spidey and (I assume you were referencing) the Matrix I believe have their atmosphere enhanced by this type of animation. Just as how well Gollumn was translated into CG completely enhanced LOTR.
That said, the Spidey trailer had some of the best examples of this type of CG I have seen. That isn't to say it always works, though, as last summer's Hulk easily proved. There is an example of the CG just not looking good no matter what context it was put into.
Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good-bad thing. Whattya mean "bad?"
Egon: Try to imagine all media players as you set them up stopping instantaneously and every file association on your computer exploding at the speed of light.
Ray: Total protonic reversal....
Venkman: Right, that's bad...OK.. important safety tip. Thanks, Slashdot.
That's the last thing Linux needs: Sun has no history of doing _anything_ at all interesting in terms of UI work.
I disagree. Who better to take a fresh look at a technology that is over twenty some years old than a group that hasn't been in that pool for the longest time. Lately, Sun has been changing that perception. As someone pointed out before, Sun has been heavily involved with Gnome as of late. Maybe they might be able to pull it off.
And secondly who wants to flip through CDs like in real life looking for the one you want?
With thoughts like this, the 3D desktop will take a while to become mainstream. How about this for software:
Word processors. Instead of having multiple rows of icons for various formatting tools, you have a 3d reel that you can rotate with the top row somewhat translucent to see those behind. Think of the amount of desktop space you could save. Better yet, think of it as a notebook. You have the document that you are working on flat, but you have something you are transcribing from slightly tilted to fit them both on your desktop.
Something a little closer home to me, weather software. Weather is presented in 3D, but most meteorologist look at it in a 2D perspective. It would be great to provide all the levels of weather in a slide on slide mode and then be able to pull each level out individually, all in 3D. Further, to be able to layer different forecast models in a 3D way would be great too.
The best part about 3D desktops would be developers would be required to think in new and hopefully more efficient ways. I am excited to see the development kit slated to come out in the middle of this year.
Slashdot Mirror
"Arghhh, my eyes. The goggles do nothing!"
-- McBain
Rather appropriate for this guy's background.
Firstly, as mentioned in the transgaming forum, the twat that got all worked up about this has been using Gentoo for a grand total of 13 days, and he still has the nerve to mobilise everyone..to comlain[sic]../. will publish anything these days!!
How foolish we are to follow someone so blindly. If you look at the reference to how long the guy has been posting, it is August 3 2003, not 2004. So, the dude has been running Gentoo for quite some time.
The fact that Norton Corporate Edition isn't supported in the Security Center is a GOOD thing.<snip>
I hear what you are saying and I totally agree, but Microsoft's security screen reporting the status as red, which will probably bring pause to other, less informed users in the house. Thankfully, I just found that the setting on the right "Change the way Security Center alerts me" allows me to turn off this warning. I would imagine it is by design, but that setting wasn't all together obvious.
- Things truely do seem to be snappy. I am not sure where to attribute this, but it is welcome.
- My notebook has wireless which had the annoying habit of showing that there wasn't a wireless connection (the disconnected red x) coming out of hibernation even though it was fully operational. That appears to be fixed.
- I was afraid that the firewall would prove to be annoying, but it actually works pretty well. When I load ICQ, Activestate Komodo, or other applications that try and used blocked ports, it pops up asking if I want to unblock things. The old SP1 firewall didn't do this.
- IE's popup blocker is pretty slick. It will show a little dropdown area above the current page asking about the popup, if it should be displayed, etc. Neat. I do wish Firefox would do this instead of the small icon in the lower right of Firefox's window. It isn't enough to make me stop using Firefox, though.
Now, for the stuff I find annoying.- Their Windows Security Alerts interface isn't compatible with my corporate Norton I have from my work place. It isn't a big whoop, but I am surprised they don't work together.
- Some of my folder settings have changed. I am not sure why, but Microsoft feels the status bar shouldn't be on by default. To hit this point home, it changed it back to disabled after the install. Come on.....
- Along those lines, they decided to mess with my sound scheme. I normally turn all of that off, but sure enough after reboot it is back in all its glory!
- A lot of the wireless stuff has been funneled into wizards, need to find a way to turn that stuff off.
- IE and PNG is still pretty broken. Alpha doesn't work, and that problem where the colors are slightly off of what they actually are is still there. You would have thought that they would have addressed some of that stuff!
There you go, a user's point of view. Take it for what it's worth....- and the remote was pretty sexy (anyone wanna help me write a driver for Linux?)
Take a look at the LIRC 0.7.0 snapshots. The Microsoft remote has been in there for quite some time and works well. In fact, you can use the IR receiver that comes with it and quite a few compatible IR remotes.
I have MythTV set up with a PVR-250 and it's the best thing ever.
Hear hear! I have a Myth server running two Hauppauge PVR 250s and it is smooth. The guide is smart enough that I just select two shows to record and it handles the rest. The best part is that I have a Myth client running in the main TV room that is a stripped down Dell 4600c which I got refurbished for $360that fits perfectly into the entertainment center. All the advantages of the two tuners, but the quiet-ness of a small form factor PC. Awesome stuff AND two TVs can use the same recording repository!
tell me why I would want to look at my document while it's twisted sideways?
So you can read your document while you are behind the monitor, duh!
Is it not the case the MS Windows contains (or contained) code from BSD or Linux...
7 .
From my recollection, contained is the right word, but it has been a while. A quick Google turned up: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/6/19/05641/735
He is bland, a braggart, and doesn't know when to shut up, but what he is trying to do (namely, the profit off of intellectual property) cannot be ignored. The wired article makes a great point on the last page: "Darl McBride is right about one thing: There's a big problem with Linux. <snip> The problem is that the free operating system created by Torvalds and his collaborators is poorly documented."
To be honest, if it wasn't going to be McBride, it would be someone else down the line that would exploit this little problem. Most open source advocates would hate to say it, but with this kind of question looming over Linux as an operating system, some bigger companies won't look at it in the same light as they would, say, Microsoft Windows or Sun Solaris. It is good that, not unlike a band-aid, this is getting done now so that even the big corporations can know what most of us already do; without a question or a doubt, Linux is safe to use.
I see no windmills here, but a true dragon that needs to be slayed.
Uhem. It was a joke. Troy McClure from the Simpsons is always associated with really stinker titles. The punch line is that, while they have some impressive talent doing secondary voices, they would hire a no talent hack to be the lead. It wasn't a take on Valve's story telling. It wasn't a slam on the late, great Phil Hartman. It was light humor. I guess if I have to explain it, though, it isn't that funny......
I had heard they were going to hire Troy McClure to play Freeman. You might remember him from such films as "The Greatest Story Ever Hula-ed" and "They Came to Burgle Carnegie Hall".
the third release is often a dissapointment. (with the exception of the original star wars trilogy ;-)
Me thinks the demon-possessed Ewoks at the end of Doom 3 will change your tune....
Just to keep things in perspective, I don't really care how powerful "any" game platform is, console/pc/other. I think we are past the point of the "bit wars", or that is comparing hardware.
Someone should mod this up; it is an excellent point! In the whole history of game-dom, hardware has never been an indicator of a system's success (except maybe once with the PS1, more on that later). The Sega Master System was more advanced than the NES. SNES was more advanced than the Genesis. Hell, the 3DO was more advanced than anything when it first came out. How did those hardware battles turn out? The opposite of the specs. Every time. It all comes down to the software support.
The PS1 was an interesting anomoly in that their system and the Saturn were built to do two different things. Sony caught the gaming industry at a time that it was being wowwed by 3d graphics. Sega chose poorly with their system design focusing on 2D, Sony chose wisely.
That does bring us back to Microsoft and the Xbox2. To be honest, I can't say that I am impressed with their software so far on the Xbox with the last game I played in any detail being Ninja Gaiden and befor that Halo. In fact, this has kept the dust layer thick on that system while my PS2 gets constant play (Jak2, VF4E, Gran Tarismo, Kingdom Hearts, etc). If Microsoft wants to win this next battle, they need to get their software quality to match up with their hardware quality.
Thanks for the correction. Due to the ol' company firewall, the only info I could find was an ATI press release which mentioned the QAM with the onboard chip; all those review sites are blocked!
What we NEED, and I mean REALLY NEED, is the ability to get HDTV from sources we in the real world actually USE (cable and sattelite)<snip>
That is what you get. The ATI comes with a tuner that not only supports OTA but also QAM so you can plug your local cable company's line into the card and get a signal. Now, that doesn't get you the encrypted stuff (ESPNHD, HBO), you will need a box for that, but will get you locals. That is the case for Cox Cable here in Omaha, NE.
AT BEST, with your HDTV OTA card you will get marginal quality from a handful of HDTV channels.
What are you talking about? If you compare the same content delivered over the air to that delievered via cable, it is all the same digital signal, not marginal quality. End of story. Now, reception of that signal might not be great, but if you do get a lock of about 60% or greater, it is the same. Again, this is my experience here in Omaha.
Google + Boggle =
Boogle! Fun for the entire family! Do a hidden word search on each Google query!
"A live demonstration server is up and running the phpstack software."
to:
"A live demonstration server was up and running the phpstack software."
DAMN YOU SLASHDOT EFFECT!!!!!
Check out the following image!
Look at all those poor cross-eyed people! Who in their right mind would sacrifice their eyes for that little handheld?!
Navin Johnson is probably rolling in his grave!
- Company X makes a PC game.
- Company Y is on tap to port said game to a console.
- Company Y then touts exclusive features and content for only that console.
- Company X then releases the tools to mod the software.
- Modder W comes along and writes the sofware to fully recreate the exclusive content of Company Y (minus the intellectual property like graphics and such, of course).
Wouldn't this mean, even though it comes from the user supported modding community, that the console version doesn't have exclusive content anymore?In the case of Doom3, I would think that this would lead to some enterprising person writing the code and getting a good start before the Xbox version hits the streets.
I thought you could only get the "screen door" effect with an LCD - where you could see lines in-between the pixels (thus the term "screen door"). I think the effect you mention is just the case of having only so many pixels, but is not "screen door".
Actually, it will affect both. Since both systems are pixel based, you can see the little squares that make up the image. DLP is less affected by it, as seen at this link.
- Bulb life is always and issue. Most are rated up to around 8000 hours (if you watched six hours a day, it would wash out to about 3.5 years). When you need to replace that bulb, it will set you back another $400-$500.
- They don't offer true HD resolutions. 1386 x 788 is about as high as they go which will resolve 720p just fine. But, that means 1080i would need to be down converted to fit the screen, a process that I have personally seen introduce jaggies to an otherwise beautiful picture.
- The dreaded screen door effect. If you blow up your DLP projector too big, you will see what is called the screen door effect where you can make out each pixel of the DLP chip. Not too pretty. Go to your local AV shop and get real close to the screen to actually see them. If you are not careful, you can make those big enough to be seen from all over the room.
My beef is the lack of true 1080i support. Supposedly, the LCOS chips coming will be able to support 1080i, but I haven't actually seen these projectors yet.As someone mentioned above, you need to determine the needs of the projector and if true HD resolution is one of them, hold off for now.
Check out this picture of Flynn. The only thing this guy's costume is missing is the sash! Then, the nut/ball jokes would be moot.
The CGI looks kind of cartoonely...<snip>
I guess it is all about the context of which you are viewing the animation. Films like Spidey and (I assume you were referencing) the Matrix I believe have their atmosphere enhanced by this type of animation. Just as how well Gollumn was translated into CG completely enhanced LOTR.
That said, the Spidey trailer had some of the best examples of this type of CG I have seen. That isn't to say it always works, though, as last summer's Hulk easily proved. There is an example of the CG just not looking good no matter what context it was put into.
Egon: It would be bad.
Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good-bad thing. Whattya mean "bad?"
Egon: Try to imagine all media players as you set them up stopping instantaneously and every file association on your computer exploding at the speed of light.
Ray: Total protonic reversal....
Venkman: Right, that's bad...OK.. important safety tip. Thanks, Slashdot.
Uhm... to debunk the statement that Sun hasn't been doing anything in the UI world. Thought that one was pretty obvious.
I disagree. Who better to take a fresh look at a technology that is over twenty some years old than a group that hasn't been in that pool for the longest time. Lately, Sun has been changing that perception. As someone pointed out before, Sun has been heavily involved with Gnome as of late. Maybe they might be able to pull it off.
And secondly who wants to flip through CDs like in real life looking for the one you want?
With thoughts like this, the 3D desktop will take a while to become mainstream. How about this for software:
- Word processors. Instead of having multiple rows of icons for various formatting tools, you have a 3d reel that you can rotate with the top row somewhat translucent to see those behind. Think of the amount of desktop space you could save. Better yet, think of it as a notebook. You have the document that you are working on flat, but you have something you are transcribing from slightly tilted to fit them both on your desktop.
- Something a little closer home to me, weather software. Weather is presented in 3D, but most meteorologist look at it in a 2D perspective. It would be great to provide all the levels of weather in a slide on slide mode and then be able to pull each level out individually, all in 3D. Further, to be able to layer different forecast models in a 3D way would be great too.
The best part about 3D desktops would be developers would be required to think in new and hopefully more efficient ways. I am excited to see the development kit slated to come out in the middle of this year.