Couldn't figure out how/if I could private reply...
I'm curious how you access MythTV recorded content from XBMC? I've got the same setup, and if I setup an SMB share on my myth server I can see the record files, but the file names are all numeric channel and date time recording data.
Thats an incredibly insightful post, and very relevant. I'm sure this will get modded redundant if at all, but I wanted to let you know that this is one of the best examples I've seen yet for portraying the conversation.
Well, seeing that the average ass on Slashdot is probably about three to four feet wide, two feet high (from a sitting position) and about a foot deep from front to back, that means at most eight cubic feet of HD DVDs ripped and placed online. In reality, I'm not sure what the parent poster was that happy about since eight cubic feet of DVDs is actually not that much. I would have been inclined to say, "Great! This means that when I buy into HD stuff in five years, there should be more HD content online than there have been cocks in porno actress Houston's Yoni. If you catch my drift..." A little more accurate.
I couldn't find a reference... for Houston's Yoni...
One very cool thing that we're planning to do in Q2/2007 is to provide free access to one of these systems to people who want to either develop or port applications to it...so if you have an idea for an app that needs a fast NP-complete problem solver, start thinking about what you could do with some serious horsepower.
We use a system called FACETS. It's been written internally for a very large client and user base. I've been told it is available for licensing.
Aside from saying that I like it, I'm not sure how I could show you anything. If you're interested in seeing some of it, I could dig into the FACETS Development team and ask if there is a public version.
Additionally, all you're taking is the compressed mpeg2 stream direct from the digital feed and back to the harddrive, you'll notice that the bandwidth to record that level of video is significantly slower than attempting the same thing with 1080p.
BTW, gigabit cards are relatively cheap, and assuming your frontend and backend are the only two myth boxes in the house (Today anywAY) you could forgo the gig switch, and use a cross over cable between the two, thats actually what I'm doing right now, and it works great.
I think that none of the WW2 'sims' show any type of scene that is war specific. I mean to say that the last handful of times I've played any war game, I never saw a scene that showed images from a concentration camp, just war.
Which is to say that kids play cops and robbers but never think about the row of innocent people that they just plowed through, or when you play cowboys and indians, you never think about your brother's scalp that was removed by the indian you're tracking down.
What I mean to say is that generally speaking, 'war' games don't reflect actual events. Sure, periods of times, certain battles, but nothing so specifically graphic that you could recognize John or Bob from the 2nd infantry.
Personally I don't think anything can be made in bad taste any more... bad judgement.. maybe.
Additionally, the author of said game should be allowed to enter into any such contest or any other 'event' publishing and advertising his works. I would encourage them to. As for sponsors... well since it's there event, you pretty much have to cave to what they want to see.
It's quite common for a more skilled team to dominant a decent game of rugby. In fact, generally speaking, you may notice that while players are quite large, they are also very fit and without the tactics, as you mention, the game can be unwinnable.
I'm sure a rematch must've been held at some point, simply due to the social nature of the whole thing. I'm looking forward to winter training beginning in the next couple of weeks, and then ultimately our first tour of the year, our annual hiatus to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the big rugby tournament down there... hmm.. sun and beaches;)
What an interesting way to insult a wonderful game. As an active player I can tell you that quite simply brute force in rugby will get you nearly NO WHERE. Rugby is a team effort and if the team is not playing cohesively, then you can forget about winning, plain and simple.
As another poster mentioned, rugby is an artform, and plays have become very scientific. Brute forcing a play down the middle might gain you some ground, and the occasional break away, but eventually the brute gets tired, and is either caught (and thus ending the play), or if it's later in the game, the brute has completely lost his ability to keep up.
I use to try to play this way, I'm a pretty big guy, and I can usually run over at least 1 or 2 players, but I know that without the support of my team, my brute will end up causing a loss of possession, and ultimately the game. A lot more skill is involved than you think...
Well... just a couple of thoughts, but before I get into them, let me first say that I agree with you.
As a someone who was 'marginally' successful at scalping my 2 PS3's, I have to say that given it to do over, I would. I had a good time, and I cannot put a price tag on the 'event' itself. I still walked away with a profit.
and I to do not understand why Sony (and really anyone else) doesn't just sell the items themselves. But I believe it has alot to do with law than anything to do with business.
See, it kinda comes down to the same thing with automobiles, atleast here in the states. Technically speaking you, as a customer, cannot buy directly from the manufacturer, for nearly anything. In order for you to purchase item X, the seller has to pay certain fees within it's respective location, think sales-tax etc... . However, getting into a larger issue is that the states (individually) don't want you to be able to buy directly from the manufacturer, because it would cut out their 'inventory' taxes.
It really comes down to taxing the hell out of the product prior to the sale, as that is REALLY where they make there money. Continuing to take car dealerships as an example, the 'dealer' typically does not actually own the vehicle, oh they bought it from the manufacturer, but they don't have to report the buy until the end of the year. At which time any remaining vehicles (and sometimes this is done quarterly, but we'll continue to use annually) are then taxed an 'inventory' tax, and this is on EVERYTHING, not just the car, but parts as well. Its a ridiculous mess.
Now, thats for tangible items, talking about the concert is a little different.
Ticketmaster (again as example) has contracted with nearly every venue out there, to be the sole promoter of any event, which in addition to just about everything else, grants them the right to sale tickets. There use to be a competitor called Ticketron if I recall correctly that did basically the same thing, but at a much lower price. At any rate, a band's promotions and tour organizations are typically in cohoots with Ticketmaster as well, so it benefits everyone but the band who (as I understand it) get very little of the actual 'ticket cost' after all the fees have been added in.
There is nothing wrong with a band attempting to sale it's own tickets, but then it must also incur all marketing costs, venue rental (assuming one can be found that isn't under ticketmaster's thumb) etc... quite quickly becoming cost prohibitive.
Ticketmaster is a fucking rip-off!... They charge you a 'convenience fee' for web-based or phone based orders, in addition to their already inflated ticket pricing. I hate ticketmaster
As someone who just finished writing my first javascript app, and a simple one at that, I can tell you that I appreciated the simplistic language. I've got roots with BASIC, Turbo Pascal, and have dabbled a little along the way, and I have to say it was intuitive.
I'm not a web-dev guy, and the script I wrote won't even touch a http server, as its only meant to work locally, but I liked it.
From the MythDora website, atleast with this release, they are indeed using an SMP kernel. Perhaps an upgrade is in order.
It would be of my opinion that since they are effectively releasing a new distro, they should update the yum repositories to reflect their own, so that performing a 'yum upgrade' would grab packages based specifically on their distro as opposed to the raw Fedora distro.
just a thought
Just a thought, I think someone else might have noted it though... KnoppMyth, while being stable, is out of date, atleast currently. Which is unfortunate because I think using the knoppmyth as a live CD for the front-end works great, assuming you have a.19 backend.
The other thing to note is that the 'live' CD is only good for the front-end. I've read on the site that they are trying to get a back-end running on a CD, but I think its still under development.
Ok, I'm sure I can find the details online, but I've got a quickie question for those that will be buying the PS3 next week.
What is going to entice you to but the PS3 Premium, as opposed to the Basic? The basic will have the HDMI port, a 20gig drive (versus 60 right?) etc... etc...
So what exactly will you be 'getting' that you just have to have for an extra $100?
This argument is a legal one. Personally, I think children have been given too much liberty when it comes to bringing suit against their parents. I'm not talking about valid instances of abuse, I'm talking about a scenario where I took away your PC rights for a week, or grounded you for some event, etc... and then you calling the cops on me? WTF?
How can a parent control a child, when the state won't allow the parent?
Is filtering software sufficient?
Is a monthly review of their browser history (or an http traffic log) sufficient?
Is a weekly review of a keylogger sufficient?
Is daily review of a packet logger sufficient?
Do you have to stand over your child's shoulder for every minute of time that they are on an internet connected computer?
No, none of this is sufficient, because it's all passive. The parent should be taking an active role, intervening and interjecting often enough that the child knows that free reign doesn't exist. Am I being overly protective, possibly. Am I policing, definately. Are you suggesting that you don't (or wouldn't - not attempting to imply anything here) use any of these means to monitor your kids, are/would you only use these methods?
I'm not going to get into/rant mode, but I can tell you that my dad had an active role in my PC time. He'd allow me to go and explore, but then he always came back over every so often and checked to see what I was doing. Granted this was 15+ years ago, but you get my point. I understand that today's family is more connected than any of ours could have been back in the day, but that doesn't excuse the parent for not knowing what their child is doing. This is the same argument I keep seeing about parent's buying 'violent' games for their children (I won't get into a seperate rant). Generally speaking (and you see this everywhere) parent's are taking less and less of an active role in their child's life. I don't care if its online or off, parent's are even more disconnected today than ever before. The electronic/information age has become baby-sitter 24/7 allowing parent's to do their thing. I know that we as parent's are plenty busy, but you cannot constantly make excuses for not knowing what your child is doing.
Take a stand, pull the child off the PC for about 5 minutes and set some guidelines. Have limitations on what they are allowed to do on the net, how long they can stay on, etc... Teach morals again, please for the love of ($diety) teach them some morals.
alright, I'll end the rant. I don't think you and I are on different pages here, I may not have worded my original reply/post correctly, but I think we agree; atleast generally. I believe that ultimately an individual is responsible for their own actions, I believe that parent's should be doing everything in their power to teach, and hopefully disuade their child from doing any harm, but I think we differ in that I believe that the parent should held responsible (I'm not necessarily speaking financially) for their child's actions, thus causing the parent to act as a parent after the event and teach them why they have been punished.
Except that now you're trying to say the parent's aren't responsible for the children's actions.
The point here is that its the responsibility of both. Its just like when you're under 18 and you get a speeding ticket (we'll continue to use Texas as the example). Atleast in Harris County a parent, or legal gaurdion, is required to attend the hearing with you, its a matter of punishment to both the child and the parent. The child is embarassed and (hopefully) is required to pay the offense, and the parent is punished enough that they continue to drive the message home at home.
I haven't yet had a chance to read the article, or understand the details, but I'm guessing that the parents are indeed responsible of (at the least) neglect in the fact that they aren't policing the child's activities on the net. And if you are about to tell me that its an invasion of privacy, then you are far to liberal for me.
Perhaps I'm asking the wrong question, but what I'd like to know is could I use a couple of these things to recharge my electric vehicle, or supply enough power to power the electric motor. Probably not, but here's to being hopeful that it could act as a charging system to the say the least.
I think it's neat that it can output upto 100watts of energy, but at what Amperage and Volt? Could I use a couple of these things to say... act as a battery charger for an electric car?
I think its interesting that what you describe is not necessarily 'rumble' and should more accurately be portrayed as force-feedback, and Immersion (or whatever) certainly can't claim they invented that. Rumble is simply a shaking vibrating motion within the controller, higher speeds of the motor cause more vibration, or rumble. What you describe is actually force-feedback. Just like steering wheels are tighter to turn at high speeds, and softer to turn at lower speeds, also causing feedback when running over rough terrain.
I agree with the majority of your points, but I thought I'd offer the observation that you seem to want force-feedback. So do I. But I don't think a 'controller' can offer that, except in the thumbsticks like you describe. Steering-wheels and joysticks (ala flight sims and such) provide a better experience in force-feedback and 'rumble'.
Now, having said all that. I find it interesting that while Sony (specifically) hasn't licensed the technology, and perhaps won't, it seems that they really haven't talked about any other vendor using or not using 'rumble'. Is this a parent licensing issue, meaning that if Sony doesn't then Logitech can't? Or is it strictly at the software level that Sony can't include 'rumble' in the SDK, therefor there is no point in building hardware to take advantage of it?
OK, so I did something I'm not supposed to do before ranting, I actually read the article. Forget for a second that the author specifically repeats itself, but its poorly written as well.
First, lets take the blue-ray drive. Lets assume for a moment, that the article correctly reports the price at between 200 and 300 dollars. So you're telling me the that between half or more of the cost is in the drive itself, to say nothing of the components that make up the system. I think Sony is run by baboons most of the time as well, but come on. Maybe at a full costs level, being sold to OEMs the blue-ray drive costs that much, but lets be real here for a second, they're not paying that much to have them.
Going further into the article, it suggest that Sony will force you to buy a bundle, big surprise there. Every console during launch has basically forced you to buy some bundle. And lets be honest for a second. What good is a console without atleast 1 game. Show me one early adopter that bought anything, just to have it sit on the shelf and collect dust. Of course you're going to buy a game, possibly two. As long as I can pick the game, I don't really think thats a problem. Now, on that same note, don't force me to buy an extra controller or any other 'accessories' especially since now the low-end model will offer HDMI port. Personally, I think thats a plus. Yes it will drive up the core costs just a touch, but lets be honest again, chances are that if I bought one today, I'd still end up buying the propietary component cables. This way I can buy the HDMI cable from a vendor of choice, and probably at a non-inflated price. I'll be standing just outside of BestBuy offering HDMI cables at half the cost of Monster on release day. Digital is digital.
Is the price of the PS3 high, yes it is. Do I still want one, yes I do. Will I buy it, probably not - but maybe. Does it cost more than the xbox 360, not necessarily. I can buy the 'base' console for the same price as the 'premium' 360. Plus I get BlueRay without any additional costs. The only advantage I can immediately see the 360 currently having is the modability. Give the PS3 1 year and I'm sure we'll see the same results.
I could go on, but to be honest I don't have the time or the energy to further crap on this article. I think someone had a word quota to fill, and this was there attempt at getting it done with.
Someone else made a nice comment, and to the point, Starbucks is by no stretch of any imagination inventor of anything other than a brand name. A third place has been part of our lives for quite some time. Think outside sports, recreational activities (not family vacations), anything that you do routinely away from home or work. For me, it was life at the firedepartment, or talking in IRC, or rugby, or skating, or any number of things I did away from home or work. Social status (real) was achieved through personal growth. I learn, or I help, and therefor my 'status' improves.
I swear... some people get away with writing the most god awful shite, and get it passed off as revolutionary!.../rant
As the original poster I thought I'd chime in for a moment. I certainly agree with you that HDCP is bad, and as another posted noted that HDMI (itself) is not necessarily bad, but is only acting as a transport medium for the bad control. I guess my reason for posting the question in the first place is this:
With the unwaving push to HDCP, and DRM control, I am going to assume that we will be pushed (as consumers, lets not kid ourselves) into using HDMI in the future. I've seen some pretty decent HDTV sets, with a number of component inputs (3 or 4 seems typical right now), just none of them had more than one HDMI. I wasn't aware of the ability to daisy chain HDMI, but knowing that now seems logical.
Me... I'd prefer to use component for as long as possible. Currently 3 of my media devices are connected to the TV via component. Thats my PS2, Xbox, and my DVD player. I don't have immediate plans to buy either the xbox360 or the PS3, but may in the future, and quite honestly I have NO plans on buying a new HDTV just to be able to play games on. Currently, I have digital cable, but they don't offer component out (atleast not on this box), and my PC and Dreamcast are connected via S-Video and RCA, respectively.
Perhaps in the future we'll see HDMI pass through devices become more common place (and hopefully DRM free), or we'll see TVs with as many HDMI inputs as we have component today. Either way, I just wanted to get a feel for the market today.
I'd have to say yes. I have some nephew's and neices that are great little kids. But they are infatuated with electronics, and not at a healthy level. Being entertainment junkies (to the point of cell phones, portable this and that, games etc..) is not quite the same thing as having a real love for electronics as a hobby. Being a geek and being a consumer are quite different.
Today's kids (generally speaking) are so overwhelmed by communications, entertainment, and anything in between that they aren't really interacting on the playground, or other venues that are 'kid' places. We need to force our kids to unplug, get outside, get some sun, and play. Go build a fort. Go get hurt and come back so we can fix you up. The outside world is only dangerous if you're never exposed to it. The real world really is a great learning environment, honest.
Slashdot Mirror
Couldn't figure out how/if I could private reply ...
I'm curious how you access MythTV recorded content from XBMC? I've got the same setup, and if I setup an SMB share on my myth server I can see the record files, but the file names are all numeric channel and date time recording data.
Whats your setup like?
Thats an incredibly insightful post, and very relevant. I'm sure this will get modded redundant if at all, but I wanted to let you know that this is one of the best examples I've seen yet for portraying the conversation.
harryk
I couldn't find a reference... for Houston's Yoni
Taken from the blog post...
One very cool thing that we're planning to do in Q2/2007 is to provide free access to one of these systems to people who want to either develop or port applications to it...so if you have an idea for an app that needs a fast NP-complete problem solver, start thinking about what you could do with some serious horsepower.
We use a system called FACETS. It's been written internally for a very large client and user base. I've been told it is available for licensing.
Aside from saying that I like it, I'm not sure how I could show you anything. If you're interested in seeing some of it, I could dig into the FACETS Development team and ask if there is a public version.
harryk
Additionally, all you're taking is the compressed mpeg2 stream direct from the digital feed and back to the harddrive, you'll notice that the bandwidth to record that level of video is significantly slower than attempting the same thing with 1080p.
BTW, gigabit cards are relatively cheap, and assuming your frontend and backend are the only two myth boxes in the house (Today anywAY) you could forgo the gig switch, and use a cross over cable between the two, thats actually what I'm doing right now, and it works great.
harryk
I think that none of the WW2 'sims' show any type of scene that is war specific. I mean to say that the last handful of times I've played any war game, I never saw a scene that showed images from a concentration camp, just war.
.. maybe.
Which is to say that kids play cops and robbers but never think about the row of innocent people that they just plowed through, or when you play cowboys and indians, you never think about your brother's scalp that was removed by the indian you're tracking down.
What I mean to say is that generally speaking, 'war' games don't reflect actual events. Sure, periods of times, certain battles, but nothing so specifically graphic that you could recognize John or Bob from the 2nd infantry.
Personally I don't think anything can be made in bad taste any more... bad judgement
Additionally, the author of said game should be allowed to enter into any such contest or any other 'event' publishing and advertising his works. I would encourage them to. As for sponsors... well since it's there event, you pretty much have to cave to what they want to see.
just my rambling...
harryk
It's quite common for a more skilled team to dominant a decent game of rugby. In fact, generally speaking, you may notice that while players are quite large, they are also very fit and without the tactics, as you mention, the game can be unwinnable.
;)
I'm sure a rematch must've been held at some point, simply due to the social nature of the whole thing. I'm looking forward to winter training beginning in the next couple of weeks, and then ultimately our first tour of the year, our annual hiatus to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the big rugby tournament down there... hmm.. sun and beaches
cheers,
harryk
What an interesting way to insult a wonderful game. As an active player I can tell you that quite simply brute force in rugby will get you nearly NO WHERE. Rugby is a team effort and if the team is not playing cohesively, then you can forget about winning, plain and simple.
As another poster mentioned, rugby is an artform, and plays have become very scientific. Brute forcing a play down the middle might gain you some ground, and the occasional break away, but eventually the brute gets tired, and is either caught (and thus ending the play), or if it's later in the game, the brute has completely lost his ability to keep up.
I use to try to play this way, I'm a pretty big guy, and I can usually run over at least 1 or 2 players, but I know that without the support of my team, my brute will end up causing a loss of possession, and ultimately the game. A lot more skill is involved than you think...
Well... just a couple of thoughts, but before I get into them, let me first say that I agree with you.
... They charge you a 'convenience fee' for web-based or phone based orders, in addition to their already inflated ticket pricing. I hate ticketmaster
As a someone who was 'marginally' successful at scalping my 2 PS3's, I have to say that given it to do over, I would. I had a good time, and I cannot put a price tag on the 'event' itself. I still walked away with a profit.
and I to do not understand why Sony (and really anyone else) doesn't just sell the items themselves. But I believe it has alot to do with law than anything to do with business.
See, it kinda comes down to the same thing with automobiles, atleast here in the states. Technically speaking you, as a customer, cannot buy directly from the manufacturer, for nearly anything. In order for you to purchase item X, the seller has to pay certain fees within it's respective location, think sales-tax etc... . However, getting into a larger issue is that the states (individually) don't want you to be able to buy directly from the manufacturer, because it would cut out their 'inventory' taxes.
It really comes down to taxing the hell out of the product prior to the sale, as that is REALLY where they make there money. Continuing to take car dealerships as an example, the 'dealer' typically does not actually own the vehicle, oh they bought it from the manufacturer, but they don't have to report the buy until the end of the year. At which time any remaining vehicles (and sometimes this is done quarterly, but we'll continue to use annually) are then taxed an 'inventory' tax, and this is on EVERYTHING, not just the car, but parts as well. Its a ridiculous mess.
Now, thats for tangible items, talking about the concert is a little different.
Ticketmaster (again as example) has contracted with nearly every venue out there, to be the sole promoter of any event, which in addition to just about everything else, grants them the right to sale tickets. There use to be a competitor called Ticketron if I recall correctly that did basically the same thing, but at a much lower price. At any rate, a band's promotions and tour organizations are typically in cohoots with Ticketmaster as well, so it benefits everyone but the band who (as I understand it) get very little of the actual 'ticket cost' after all the fees have been added in.
There is nothing wrong with a band attempting to sale it's own tickets, but then it must also incur all marketing costs, venue rental (assuming one can be found that isn't under ticketmaster's thumb) etc... quite quickly becoming cost prohibitive.
Ticketmaster is a fucking rip-off!
As someone who just finished writing my first javascript app, and a simple one at that, I can tell you that I appreciated the simplistic language. I've got roots with BASIC, Turbo Pascal, and have dabbled a little along the way, and I have to say it was intuitive.
I'm not a web-dev guy, and the script I wrote won't even touch a http server, as its only meant to work locally, but I liked it.
just me rambling
harryk
From the MythDora website, atleast with this release, they are indeed using an SMP kernel. Perhaps an upgrade is in order. It would be of my opinion that since they are effectively releasing a new distro, they should update the yum repositories to reflect their own, so that performing a 'yum upgrade' would grab packages based specifically on their distro as opposed to the raw Fedora distro. just a thought
Just a thought, I think someone else might have noted it though... KnoppMyth, while being stable, is out of date, atleast currently. Which is unfortunate because I think using the knoppmyth as a live CD for the front-end works great, assuming you have a .19 backend.
The other thing to note is that the 'live' CD is only good for the front-end. I've read on the site that they are trying to get a back-end running on a CD, but I think its still under development.
just my 2cents
harryk
Ok, I'm sure I can find the details online, but I've got a quickie question for those that will be buying the PS3 next week.
What is going to entice you to but the PS3 Premium, as opposed to the Basic? The basic will have the HDMI port, a 20gig drive (versus 60 right?) etc... etc...
So what exactly will you be 'getting' that you just have to have for an extra $100?
This argument is a legal one. Personally, I think children have been given too much liberty when it comes to bringing suit against their parents. I'm not talking about valid instances of abuse, I'm talking about a scenario where I took away your PC rights for a week, or grounded you for some event, etc... and then you calling the cops on me? WTF?
How can a parent control a child, when the state won't allow the parent?
No, none of this is sufficient, because it's all passive. The parent should be taking an active role, intervening and interjecting often enough that the child knows that free reign doesn't exist. Am I being overly protective, possibly. Am I policing, definately. Are you suggesting that you don't (or wouldn't - not attempting to imply anything here) use any of these means to monitor your kids, are/would you only use these methods?
I'm not going to get into
Take a stand, pull the child off the PC for about 5 minutes and set some guidelines. Have limitations on what they are allowed to do on the net, how long they can stay on, etc... Teach morals again, please for the love of ($diety) teach them some morals.
alright, I'll end the rant. I don't think you and I are on different pages here, I may not have worded my original reply/post correctly, but I think we agree; atleast generally. I believe that ultimately an individual is responsible for their own actions, I believe that parent's should be doing everything in their power to teach, and hopefully disuade their child from doing any harm, but I think we differ in that I believe that the parent should held responsible (I'm not necessarily speaking financially) for their child's actions, thus causing the parent to act as a parent after the event and teach them why they have been punished.
Except that now you're trying to say the parent's aren't responsible for the children's actions.
The point here is that its the responsibility of both. Its just like when you're under 18 and you get a speeding ticket (we'll continue to use Texas as the example). Atleast in Harris County a parent, or legal gaurdion, is required to attend the hearing with you, its a matter of punishment to both the child and the parent. The child is embarassed and (hopefully) is required to pay the offense, and the parent is punished enough that they continue to drive the message home at home.
I haven't yet had a chance to read the article, or understand the details, but I'm guessing that the parents are indeed responsible of (at the least) neglect in the fact that they aren't policing the child's activities on the net. And if you are about to tell me that its an invasion of privacy, then you are far to liberal for me.
Perhaps I'm asking the wrong question, but what I'd like to know is could I use a couple of these things to recharge my electric vehicle, or supply enough power to power the electric motor. Probably not, but here's to being hopeful that it could act as a charging system to the say the least.
I think it's neat that it can output upto 100watts of energy, but at what Amperage and Volt? Could I use a couple of these things to say... act as a battery charger for an electric car?
Point 4.
I think its interesting that what you describe is not necessarily 'rumble' and should more accurately be portrayed as force-feedback, and Immersion (or whatever) certainly can't claim they invented that. Rumble is simply a shaking vibrating motion within the controller, higher speeds of the motor cause more vibration, or rumble. What you describe is actually force-feedback. Just like steering wheels are tighter to turn at high speeds, and softer to turn at lower speeds, also causing feedback when running over rough terrain.
I agree with the majority of your points, but I thought I'd offer the observation that you seem to want force-feedback. So do I. But I don't think a 'controller' can offer that, except in the thumbsticks like you describe. Steering-wheels and joysticks (ala flight sims and such) provide a better experience in force-feedback and 'rumble'.
Now, having said all that. I find it interesting that while Sony (specifically) hasn't licensed the technology, and perhaps won't, it seems that they really haven't talked about any other vendor using or not using 'rumble'. Is this a parent licensing issue, meaning that if Sony doesn't then Logitech can't? Or is it strictly at the software level that Sony can't include 'rumble' in the SDK, therefor there is no point in building hardware to take advantage of it?
harryk
You are correct, I'm sorry. I made the mistake of using my memory, and just realized that the price of the premium is not $500.
I sit corrected.
OK, so I did something I'm not supposed to do before ranting, I actually read the article. Forget for a second that the author specifically repeats itself, but its poorly written as well.
First, lets take the blue-ray drive. Lets assume for a moment, that the article correctly reports the price at between 200 and 300 dollars. So you're telling me the that between half or more of the cost is in the drive itself, to say nothing of the components that make up the system. I think Sony is run by baboons most of the time as well, but come on. Maybe at a full costs level, being sold to OEMs the blue-ray drive costs that much, but lets be real here for a second, they're not paying that much to have them.
Going further into the article, it suggest that Sony will force you to buy a bundle, big surprise there. Every console during launch has basically forced you to buy some bundle. And lets be honest for a second. What good is a console without atleast 1 game. Show me one early adopter that bought anything, just to have it sit on the shelf and collect dust. Of course you're going to buy a game, possibly two. As long as I can pick the game, I don't really think thats a problem. Now, on that same note, don't force me to buy an extra controller or any other 'accessories' especially since now the low-end model will offer HDMI port. Personally, I think thats a plus. Yes it will drive up the core costs just a touch, but lets be honest again, chances are that if I bought one today, I'd still end up buying the propietary component cables. This way I can buy the HDMI cable from a vendor of choice, and probably at a non-inflated price. I'll be standing just outside of BestBuy offering HDMI cables at half the cost of Monster on release day. Digital is digital.
Is the price of the PS3 high, yes it is. Do I still want one, yes I do. Will I buy it, probably not - but maybe. Does it cost more than the xbox 360, not necessarily. I can buy the 'base' console for the same price as the 'premium' 360. Plus I get BlueRay without any additional costs. The only advantage I can immediately see the 360 currently having is the modability. Give the PS3 1 year and I'm sure we'll see the same results.
I could go on, but to be honest I don't have the time or the energy to further crap on this article. I think someone had a word quota to fill, and this was there attempt at getting it done with.
Someone else made a nice comment, and to the point, Starbucks is by no stretch of any imagination inventor of anything other than a brand name. A third place has been part of our lives for quite some time. Think outside sports, recreational activities (not family vacations), anything that you do routinely away from home or work. For me, it was life at the firedepartment, or talking in IRC, or rugby, or skating, or any number of things I did away from home or work. Social status (real) was achieved through personal growth. I learn, or I help, and therefor my 'status' improves.
... some people get away with writing the most god awful shite, and get it passed off as revolutionary! ... /rant
I swear
harryk
As the original poster I thought I'd chime in for a moment. I certainly agree with you that HDCP is bad, and as another posted noted that HDMI (itself) is not necessarily bad, but is only acting as a transport medium for the bad control. I guess my reason for posting the question in the first place is this:
With the unwaving push to HDCP, and DRM control, I am going to assume that we will be pushed (as consumers, lets not kid ourselves) into using HDMI in the future. I've seen some pretty decent HDTV sets, with a number of component inputs (3 or 4 seems typical right now), just none of them had more than one HDMI. I wasn't aware of the ability to daisy chain HDMI, but knowing that now seems logical.
Me... I'd prefer to use component for as long as possible. Currently 3 of my media devices are connected to the TV via component. Thats my PS2, Xbox, and my DVD player. I don't have immediate plans to buy either the xbox360 or the PS3, but may in the future, and quite honestly I have NO plans on buying a new HDTV just to be able to play games on. Currently, I have digital cable, but they don't offer component out (atleast not on this box), and my PC and Dreamcast are connected via S-Video and RCA, respectively.
Perhaps in the future we'll see HDMI pass through devices become more common place (and hopefully DRM free), or we'll see TVs with as many HDMI inputs as we have component today. Either way, I just wanted to get a feel for the market today.
Thanks for the feedback.
I'd have to say yes. I have some nephew's and neices that are great little kids. But they are infatuated with electronics, and not at a healthy level. Being entertainment junkies (to the point of cell phones, portable this and that, games etc..) is not quite the same thing as having a real love for electronics as a hobby. Being a geek and being a consumer are quite different.
Today's kids (generally speaking) are so overwhelmed by communications, entertainment, and anything in between that they aren't really interacting on the playground, or other venues that are 'kid' places. We need to force our kids to unplug, get outside, get some sun, and play. Go build a fort. Go get hurt and come back so we can fix you up. The outside world is only dangerous if you're never exposed to it. The real world really is a great learning environment, honest.