I'm a College-level computer programming student who has used Windows and DOS all his life, but I recently had to experiment with using Linux because I acquired a new XBox. There are a few major things that I find are preventing Linux from being an easy-to-use operating system.
The biggest issue, I find, is the lack of standardization in Linux distributions, applications, and desktops. I've encountered problems with things like removing applications from my startup list, uninstalling applications in general, changing fonts in my applications, getting extra keyboard keys to be recognized by linux. Most of my problems, I find, is due to the lack of standardization between distros/UIs/applications. I'm not saying that every distro/UI/app should be the same, and neither am I saying that freedom of choice is bad, but I, for one, would like to be able to learn one set of skills that will apply to any app/UI/distro, just like computer terminology (one technical term means one, and one thing, only).
Without standardization for the sake of usability, users really have to jump through hoops everytime they want to learn a new app. Sure, Emacs and vi do beautiful things with macros and are extremely extensible, but the learning curve is steep. I can never understand why the Emacs people decided to name a menu command "Save Buffer" when they really mean "Save to Disk" or "Save" or "Save as..." It just doesn't make sense to everyone. I guess Standardization is synonymous with "evil" in the Linux word, but it doesn't have to be that way. Giving me the freedom to choose the ratio exact ratio between POWER and EASE-OF-USE would be better than giving me the freedom to choose between the 100 ways I can accomplish the same task.
Perhaps a Linux standard should be developed for Mainstream Desktop use where every application in the distro uses the same approximate terminology and UI. Something like KDE 3.2 and the K app family. The only problem is the 3rd party apps that don't like to comform, and therefore confuses the crap out of its users.
The other big problem I can see with Linux desktops is that Linux is still far too deeply based in its CLI. Sure, the CLI is powerful, and scripting for CLI is far easier and more powerful than scripting a GUI (eww... wsh for windows), but what is the point of having the GUI if you CAN'T do everything in the GUI? Remember that the GUI was designed for ease-of-use. When I can't remove a startup item from the GUI (hey, I just wanted to stop a program from running at XFCE startup, not something "advanced" by any means) I get frustrated, and have to hunt for an hour looking for the configuration file that controls my startup. It may even require reading different documentations, as each distro likes to install things in different places. BAD. At least with FreeDOS, everything was exactly where DOS had put it, and there's no problems.
And here's something that no desktop has gotten right yet: Easy Groups and Permissions management. Why can't I just be able to Right-Click on a program (as an admin), go to its properties, and make it available to everyone in a group? Or, rather, why can't I, as a user, make a program unavailable and hidden to me (until an admin restores it)? The way that Linux handles each user account is great, but now we need to extend it to more than just files and configs, but desktops and desktop applications as well, and make it EASY.
Many, many years ago, I came across an article in a Hong Kong magazine regarding a piece of software called "Betwin," which does the same thing. Googling will find you links like: Buddy and Another version called Buddy Betwin
Basically the same thing... Nothing new here, move on...
... Enforcement officials should be legally required to punish every single infraction of every law, however minor...
What's that you say, they could never realistically do that? Then the laws are flawed. If an act is so ubiquitous that you can't keep up with punishing people for it, then it shouldn't be illegal.
You have good intentions, but really bad analogies, and you contradict yourself. Taking your "Driving one mph over the speed limit" example, then either there should be enough Police Enforcement resources to monitor every single car on the road, or there should be no traffic laws, as many people commit infractions on a regular basis. In fact, 95% of the drivers I know usually drive at least 5mph over the limit, and there are times when I've known people who drive home a little intoxicated. It's really not known whether or not it's considered impaired driving unless you have a breatholizer test kit.
Essentially, you're saying, "Enforce the rules properly, or not at all." If our society were to have proper enforcement, you would cry about your "civil liberties" being violated, and taxes would have to be VERY high (install a tracking device on each vehicle, as well as all kinds of sensors that relay info to the government).
Face it, Pigs suck at times. Yes, they can be very unfair, and very prejudiced, but one can't start screaming "civil liberties" every time a cop comes around, or "plead the fifth" everytime a cop asks a question, because some of them are really trying to do a job. Just like a Systems Developer or Programmer will ask a client about their requirements, or some specs, for a project, a cop needs certain details to ascertain the "specs" of their current working environment. It really sucks that there's this range of cops from nice ones, to assholes who abuse the law as they see fit. I hope that this turns out well.
The only uses for an 8GB flash card that I can think of is digital video shoots. I'm guessing that read/write time will be about the same as current CF cards, so it's not going to be steller (not enough on an 8GB media), so you'll want to stream to it slowly. I mean, a photographer wouldn't have a reason to tote around 8GB worth of pictures, because he can always get to a terminal where he can sync pictures over an internet account. I mean, for $6000, I think he has no choice...
And in regards to using this for video, why would you? There are DVD-based DV Cams out there that will write to 4.7GB discs that cost $1.5 each, so why bother spending 6 grand on something that can be done for $3? Plus, DVDs can be read almost anywhere these days, whereas you need to carry a special reader for CF.
What I really want to see is an 8GB thumbdrive for CHEAP!
The first step to my dream home is an invisible stereo system embedded in the house. The server could be stuck into some closed off closet while all my speakers are flat panel picture frames covered by paintings. Where does VR play into this? If voice recognition technology were to take off, dreams of invisible interfaces could finally come true. The last manifestation of this setup I had was a mic plugged into a Wintel Box using Game Commander to control Winamp. Now, imagine if Linux were to have VR built in (Linux was always the better OS for intelligent appliances, anyway), all of a sudden I have the entire Open Source community supporting my invisible stereo system - and documentation so that anyone in the world can set one up. And also, it's about interfaces and menu choices. Instead of a tree-like file structure, the new file-structure can be a single-folder structure since we now have a full vocabulary to access an infinite amount of choices with. i.e. - GUI's have to branch out into multiple click systems because we don't have an infinite amount of desktop spaces or buttons on our mice. Instead of clicking four times to access a program in KDE, we can now simply speak the program's name. I'm not asking you to throw away your keyboard and mice (hell, how're we going to play quake?), simply think about efficient accessibility of our machines. Fit that in with natural language processing and now my grandma can use a computer! Trust me, though you think our world is technological advanced enough, your faith in humanity is blind. I've recently watched a roomful of my peers (a 13th grade class full of... I guess 18-19 year olds) unsuccessfully try to master the "Hyperstudio" program. Believe me, the program was an easy-to-use typical windows program.
They've had this technology for YEARS in Hong Kong. It's called iTV (interactive TV) and is essentially VoD (Video on Demand) with timeshifting and all (but I think all that is done server-side). High-speed internet access with that goes without saying (DSL).
What I've always wanted is a house where the music system is voice activated and completely transparent. Natural Language Processing combined with trained neural network "playlisting" functions (download a bunch of new songs off the 'net, figure out which songs are what genre, and play them according to my mood). Right now, I'm working on something like it, but the only solution I have for input is a wireless mic I would strap onto myself 24/7 (not good). As for software, I'm using programs with limited commands which translate into keystrokes (Game Commander + Winamp). Not very efficient nor very transparent, but it works... somewhat.
If anyone has any better ideas on how I can do this in my home, please e-mail me.
The same way nintendo has lost to PSX, it will lose, ultimately, to the X-Box. Design problems inherent in the N64 (expensive cartridges) and lack of software titles has plagued the sales of this otherwise amazing console. Ultimately, the pure muscle of MSFT's money and developer relations (the fact that it OWNS bungee, mostly) will out-class the N64 in # of quality software titles. The only thing N64 has going for it software wise is the genius designer Miyamoto (whose work EVERYONE admires). As for other capabilities, X-Box will beat it in specs, too, and the fact that the bungee team probably knows the hardware well enough to release quality games geared towards a more mature (and therefore more likely to spend money on games) crowd (Halo, Myth 3, anyone?). And as well, because of the similarities in PC developement, there will be more developers able to push the limits of the X-Box faster than those who will push the limits of the GameCube. On the whole scale, the GameCube has already lost. History has proven that just because one is the head of an industry doesn't mean that people will buy blindly into it (except maybe in the case of PS2). MSFT might be the new guy, but it certainly knows games (or has paid enough people to know games for them). I still haven't been able to pick out one bad thing about the X-Box, except the fact that it's money in Gates's pocket. We'll see in 2001.
When was the last time anyone could make a photo-realistic CG graphic? I mean, everything that we've seen conveys depth because of shiny shading colours, but why can't I put a reference photograph beside a CG pic and have them look like the same thing? I mean, Lara Croft looks like a plastic doll. Now, we have the capabilities to display a photograph on a monitor, so why can't we generate a photo-realistic CG pic?
Hmm... one couple of celestial bodies twirling around each other at stellar speeds causing a build-up of material which ends in a massive eruption/explosion lasting for three whole hours.
Go back and read that paragraph, then tell me that you don't see the freudian image painted in that. Damned, it's more blatantly obvious than Adam and Eve. Maybe the 3 hour "bang" disproves the "big-bang" theory:)
Conclusion: Sex while suspended in weightless space environment can cause massive build-up and eruption:) (why else are they making bungie sex-seats which are supposed to simulate sex in a weightless environment?)
When was the last time internet legislature actually secured anything? Don't tell me that you're completely blind that "warez" site that you KNOW exists. Don't tell me that you're unaware of the existence of FTP sites running on OC-3 backbones massively transferring pre-release games and microsoft betas. And lastly, don't even think about saying that you've never seen a file called "class.nfo" or "myth.nfo" Well, if you really don't know what I'm talking about, then you should reconsider your post, as you obviously don't have enough information about the topic in question.
We're talking about securing music files to rid the world of internet DIGITAL music piracy. Let me just say that the only piracy protection on games that the "Release Groups" have not been able to crack is the logged reg-key. Logged reg-keys are stored remotely, and every time a game - for the sake of argument, let's use Quake 3 as an example - is played (over the internet only) there is a check for the reg-key. If the reg-key which the user entered into the game is in their file of "released keys", then the user is allowed to play, if not, then the user is not. Besides, Quake 3 has been cracked to work with single-player. What can SDMI do? Force only internet-connected users to listen to music? Ha! That's a laugh. Anyway, good day.
Oh yeah, a note on "resources"... umm... one would think that MR Gates has LOTS and LOTS of resources, yet a lot of people use pirated Windows - just a thought.
... shifted my body to type with one hand on the keyboard and one hand close to my center of mass while making jerking movements on my chair?
Hmm... maybe it should also sense the temperature changes in my body so that if I start fogging up the screen and sitting on the edge of my seat it'll tilt and reposition itself so that I'm pushed back into a more relaxed position to prevent a cyber-induced-heart-attack?
What if someone were to hack the chair's hardware, insert some force feedback cabling devices, plug it into USB port, open source the drivers, then make it respond to IRC/me's like "/me is stroking your back.":)
God, couple this new chair with the iFeel Mouseman, push the prices down, bundle it with a web-cam + teleconferencing software and IRC, call it the "Cyber-Flex Productivity Suite," and get a marketing campaign geared towards 14 year olds, then you'll be raking in the dough:)
Unwilling (or too stupid) to capitalize on its already-made successes might be its downfall. Original games like Virtual On and Sega Super GT are practically Sega coin-op legends in terms of current (post '95) games. No matter what the graphics look like, Virtua On's gameplay is far beyond any combat games I've played recently. Especially in Robotic Combat where most games are simply side-scrolling 3d fighter wanna-be's or Mech Simulators. Yet, was the new version of Virtua On (I've seen it only in Japanese arcades... updated gfx, new characters) even released on console? Well, even if it was, it wasn't hyped at all because I haven't even heard of it. I mean, Sega makes great games - no doubt about that - so why doesn't it port those games onto console and hype it like there's no tomorrow? During the hype for the console port, the arcades will swell up with people playing the game they just found out about through the ads (yeah... people are stupid like that), and when the game's released people will buy it - it's that simple. Think about how N64 has been revived (somewhat) simply because Zelda has finally been released? And now with Majora's mask? Geez. The only reason why N64 tops out is because of the guy (the japanese game designer legend... um... dunno his name... too difficult to remember). Nintendo makes great games, knows it for a fact, and is willing to capitalize on it. When was the last time you didn't hear about a Mario or Zelda game before it came out? Or after? Dreamcast? Hell, I don't even know what games are ON dreamcast! Except for the swiggly logo and vmu, I know nothing about it. Marketing, Sega, gotta do your marketing. With its association with Heat.net, you'd think that Sega would develope a 10 Six port for Dreamcast with hyped graphics... but... alas... they didn't even think about it. Geez... imagine counter-strike on DC (With a mouse... and maybe one handed gamepad) which connected to servers in no time?:)
If I remember correctly - Star Choice Satellite TV is currently marketing (but has not released yet) a TV system which incorporates instant replay, internet hookup, instant messaging, mp3 audio, and other stuff. Though I haven't seen such a system available yet in Canada, I believe it won't be long before they actually release it. They've just started putting TV commercials on.
Mainland Chinese and Honkees already have raoming GSM chips i.e. cell phone chips that work from Beijing to Singapore
First of all, I'm HK Chinese (and I'm assuming you are as well), so I'd like to remind you that Hong Kong people are also very price conscious. If you don't know by now that HK people like to carry around 2 cell-phones or 2 sim cards, then you're the one who has it all wrong. Each company offers an incredible "base-plan." But once you go over your base-minutes you get charged up the ass. Oh yeah, why do HK people change sim cards at the border? It's cheaper to use a local mainland sim-card than to roam from Hong Kong. Nothing to it. Oh yeah, by the way, there are now lots of houses built in Chinese and advertised on Hong Kong television. Hopefully to attract people from Hong Kong. Now, if the marketing chiefs at the respective companies which built the damned homes happened to want to advertise in Hong Kong, are you saying that they're simply throwing their money away? If Hong Kong people didn't want to move to China, they wouldn't advertise on Hong Kong television. Nowadays, people don't want to move to China, but because of the cheap and beautiful homes, it's an easier sacrifice to make. Not EVERYONE is rich, and I guess the poor people will have to move. And another thing - "Honky" is actually the slang term for white-folk, not Hong Kong people. Before you say that someone else is wrong, check your own facts out.
I personally see ISO news as a news media for the internet. I believe that if the constitution protects the KKK's rights to have their own newspaper (as well as the Jehova's witnesses), it will protect the rights of ISO news. Reporting illegal activity to the public should not be a crime - it is merely a factual account of the news. Aside from that, I once saw video footage of people smoking weed on July 1st (Canada day - smoke-in protest in Halifax). It isn't illegal for that station to broadcast footage of illegal activities (using and possessing illegal substances) to spread the message of the protesters (the pot-heads), so how can it be illegal for ISONews to spread news about new DC game releases and how they're ripped, etc? Sega's just pissed off because they know that they're only going to be making money off the DC for another year or so. Once the PS2, GameCube, X-Box, and Indrema come out, Sega's revenues are toast.
Hong Kong will eventually help China become a more technologically advanced country with a higher standard of living - just don't expect instant miracles. As we speak, hundreds of people from Hong Kong are flooding into China with their cell-phones, switching their SIM-cards so that their phone will use the Chinese network (and thus the owner's cell-phone number in China). Chinese cellular comms could not be affordable without the rush of Hong Kong businessmen trying to exploit China's vast consumer base (and thus each buying a sim-card and subscribing to a cell-service in China). And in turn, because cellular-comms is affordable, lots of Chinamen can use it (ok, not a LOT by ratio, but think about it - 1 in 1000 Chinese people owning a cell is STILL a lot of people). As well, WAP will soon invade China, since the HK businessmen who work with China will also want to keep themselves up to date with their stock prices.
Also, HK people moving to China (god forbid) also create a demand in the high-tech market. And of course, with those people leading the prices down, consumer-level technology will become affordable to everyone (and thus, you've tapped into a large consumer-base, yet again). Now, if we can only make the Chinese Razor-Imitations not so cheaply made, life would be better (but then again, if the brakes on the imitation-razor didn't burn the rubber off of cheaply made Chinese shoes, sales of imitation-nike shoes would go way down... I wonder when they'll make imitation-FUBU:)
The open source concept actually works very well with communism, but I'm not sure how much power the government wants people to possess. The gov't of China is a very power-hungry bunch of geriatrics, they can't really think out of the box. The one surprising thing is that your theory about them buying Windows ME is very wrong. If anything, Chinese don't really like to buy software. The asian front is well-known for piracy on corporate levels, even. The other contradiction to buying Windows is that the Chinese gov't (I believe) has adopted a Distro of Linux called "Yellow Star Linux" (or something like that. Maybe they're making it themselves). As a country, on a whole, China is making progress on a philosophical technological level. If only we can get rid of their gov't (someone please bomb the old-people's home they call parliament), life will be so much better. Then again, China has spent the last 100 years digging themselves into a hole, one can't expect them to dig themselves out in 5. Oh yeah, anyone heard about the "Great Wall of China"? The NEW one? Yeah, the firewall they're trying to build around all the Chinese ISP's so that nothing the gov't doesn't like will get to the people of China via the internet. It used to be that Americans can host off-shore anti-China-gov't sites and Chinese can read it. Well, they don't want that to happen anymore, since they can't prosecute the owner of the page if he doesn't live in China. Life sucks, eh?
Now, there'd be a few ways to turn this into a nice little car mounted MP3 player:
One could use a notebook 3.25" drive, OR one could possibly rig up a nice little CD-ROM in there (although I don't know how that'd do on the road. Maybe it could work if you were to somehow buffer the MP3 to memory on play). It would be nice if you could use the Voice Control MP3 player that someone wrote for linux using the ViaVoice SDK, or Knight Rider Player (one that doesn't need LCD) using a keypad to run.
Of course, in my home, when my comp's idle, I run Winamp with Game Commander (windoze box) and have a mic wired across my room to the doorway. The mic is enclosed so that it's facing away from the source but open to the outside. It works okay, not great (Game Commander ain't very responsive). But it's still pretty cool to be able to walk into the house (with some new girl you brought back) and just say "Play the music," and hear it playing. It's quite impressive. Get this box up and running, get a voice-control keystroke proggie (I'm sure you can find one on freshmeat), cram it all into 8MB of disk-on-chip (or get a box with a bigger chip), hook up a 9V DC to AC cigarette adapter (for the linux box), stick the box under the passenger seat, mount the mic somewhere on the cross strap of the drivers' seatbelt, and you're set. That would be one SICK audio system (although I don't know how voice recognition would work if you were blasting 500+ watts with 2 100 watt 12's in the back). If anyone builds anything like this or has any ideas (or better recognition proggies for voice control in their homes) let me know!
slyly1@home.com
Why are there graphic accelerator reviews (OLD ones) posted on slashdot? Are we really out of topics to post about? I mean, there are a lot of sites that'll link to stuff like that (bluesnews, perhaps?). I never thought that slashdot would degenerate to this level.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a College-level computer programming student who has used Windows and DOS all his life, but I recently had to experiment with using Linux because I acquired a new XBox. There are a few major things that I find are preventing Linux from being an easy-to-use operating system.
The biggest issue, I find, is the lack of standardization in Linux distributions, applications, and desktops. I've encountered problems with things like removing applications from my startup list, uninstalling applications in general, changing fonts in my applications, getting extra keyboard keys to be recognized by linux. Most of my problems, I find, is due to the lack of standardization between distros/UIs/applications. I'm not saying that every distro/UI/app should be the same, and neither am I saying that freedom of choice is bad, but I, for one, would like to be able to learn one set of skills that will apply to any app/UI/distro, just like computer terminology (one technical term means one, and one thing, only).
Without standardization for the sake of usability, users really have to jump through hoops everytime they want to learn a new app. Sure, Emacs and vi do beautiful things with macros and are extremely extensible, but the learning curve is steep. I can never understand why the Emacs people decided to name a menu command "Save Buffer" when they really mean "Save to Disk" or "Save" or "Save as..." It just doesn't make sense to everyone. I guess Standardization is synonymous with "evil" in the Linux word, but it doesn't have to be that way. Giving me the freedom to choose the ratio exact ratio between POWER and EASE-OF-USE would be better than giving me the freedom to choose between the 100 ways I can accomplish the same task.
Perhaps a Linux standard should be developed for Mainstream Desktop use where every application in the distro uses the same approximate terminology and UI. Something like KDE 3.2 and the K app family. The only problem is the 3rd party apps that don't like to comform, and therefore confuses the crap out of its users.
The other big problem I can see with Linux desktops is that Linux is still far too deeply based in its CLI. Sure, the CLI is powerful, and scripting for CLI is far easier and more powerful than scripting a GUI (eww... wsh for windows), but what is the point of having the GUI if you CAN'T do everything in the GUI? Remember that the GUI was designed for ease-of-use. When I can't remove a startup item from the GUI (hey, I just wanted to stop a program from running at XFCE startup, not something "advanced" by any means) I get frustrated, and have to hunt for an hour looking for the configuration file that controls my startup. It may even require reading different documentations, as each distro likes to install things in different places. BAD. At least with FreeDOS, everything was exactly where DOS had put it, and there's no problems.
And here's something that no desktop has gotten right yet: Easy Groups and Permissions management. Why can't I just be able to Right-Click on a program (as an admin), go to its properties, and make it available to everyone in a group? Or, rather, why can't I, as a user, make a program unavailable and hidden to me (until an admin restores it)? The way that Linux handles each user account is great, but now we need to extend it to more than just files and configs, but desktops and desktop applications as well, and make it EASY.
Many, many years ago, I came across an article in a Hong Kong magazine regarding a piece of software called "Betwin," which does the same thing. Googling will find you links like:
Buddy and Another version called Buddy Betwin
Basically the same thing...
Nothing new here, move on...
You have good intentions, but really bad analogies, and you contradict yourself. Taking your "Driving one mph over the speed limit" example, then either there should be enough Police Enforcement resources to monitor every single car on the road, or there should be no traffic laws, as many people commit infractions on a regular basis. In fact, 95% of the drivers I know usually drive at least 5mph over the limit, and there are times when I've known people who drive home a little intoxicated. It's really not known whether or not it's considered impaired driving unless you have a breatholizer test kit.
Essentially, you're saying, "Enforce the rules properly, or not at all." If our society were to have proper enforcement, you would cry about your "civil liberties" being violated, and taxes would have to be VERY high (install a tracking device on each vehicle, as well as all kinds of sensors that relay info to the government).
Face it, Pigs suck at times. Yes, they can be very unfair, and very prejudiced, but one can't start screaming "civil liberties" every time a cop comes around, or "plead the fifth" everytime a cop asks a question, because some of them are really trying to do a job. Just like a Systems Developer or Programmer will ask a client about their requirements, or some specs, for a project, a cop needs certain details to ascertain the "specs" of their current working environment. It really sucks that there's this range of cops from nice ones, to assholes who abuse the law as they see fit. I hope that this turns out well.
The only uses for an 8GB flash card that I can think of is digital video shoots. I'm guessing that read/write time will be about the same as current CF cards, so it's not going to be steller (not enough on an 8GB media), so you'll want to stream to it slowly. I mean, a photographer wouldn't have a reason to tote around 8GB worth of pictures, because he can always get to a terminal where he can sync pictures over an internet account. I mean, for $6000, I think he has no choice...
And in regards to using this for video, why would you? There are DVD-based DV Cams out there that will write to 4.7GB discs that cost $1.5 each, so why bother spending 6 grand on something that can be done for $3? Plus, DVDs can be read almost anywhere these days, whereas you need to carry a special reader for CF.
What I really want to see is an 8GB thumbdrive for CHEAP!
Wife: Did you call your ISP about why they've suspended your service?
Husband: I tried to call, baby, but I couldn't swear harshly or angrily enough...
Wife: Don't worry, hun, I'll tell the kids to call them in the morning.
So how long until we get to see a Buffy Bot? :)
No, but it will cab Robin Williams around in a flying car.
Oh, wait, that's Flubber...
... the Opera Creators said, "Let there be an IPO!"
... drive nearby sandworms to a frenzy and provoke them to attack the vehicle, swallowing it whole?
The first step to my dream home is an invisible stereo system embedded in the house. The server could be stuck into some closed off closet while all my speakers are flat panel picture frames covered by paintings. Where does VR play into this? If voice recognition technology were to take off, dreams of invisible interfaces could finally come true. The last manifestation of this setup I had was a mic plugged into a Wintel Box using Game Commander to control Winamp. Now, imagine if Linux were to have VR built in (Linux was always the better OS for intelligent appliances, anyway), all of a sudden I have the entire Open Source community supporting my invisible stereo system - and documentation so that anyone in the world can set one up. And also, it's about interfaces and menu choices. Instead of a tree-like file structure, the new file-structure can be a single-folder structure since we now have a full vocabulary to access an infinite amount of choices with. i.e. - GUI's have to branch out into multiple click systems because we don't have an infinite amount of desktop spaces or buttons on our mice. Instead of clicking four times to access a program in KDE, we can now simply speak the program's name. I'm not asking you to throw away your keyboard and mice (hell, how're we going to play quake?), simply think about efficient accessibility of our machines. Fit that in with natural language processing and now my grandma can use a computer! Trust me, though you think our world is technological advanced enough, your faith in humanity is blind. I've recently watched a roomful of my peers (a 13th grade class full of... I guess 18-19 year olds) unsuccessfully try to master the "Hyperstudio" program. Believe me, the program was an easy-to-use typical windows program.
They've had this technology for YEARS in Hong Kong. It's called iTV (interactive TV) and is essentially VoD (Video on Demand) with timeshifting and all (but I think all that is done server-side). High-speed internet access with that goes without saying (DSL).
What I've always wanted is a house where the music system is voice activated and completely transparent. Natural Language Processing combined with trained neural network "playlisting" functions (download a bunch of new songs off the 'net, figure out which songs are what genre, and play them according to my mood). Right now, I'm working on something like it, but the only solution I have for input is a wireless mic I would strap onto myself 24/7 (not good). As for software, I'm using programs with limited commands which translate into keystrokes (Game Commander + Winamp). Not very efficient nor very transparent, but it works... somewhat. If anyone has any better ideas on how I can do this in my home, please e-mail me.
The same way nintendo has lost to PSX, it will lose, ultimately, to the X-Box. Design problems inherent in the N64 (expensive cartridges) and lack of software titles has plagued the sales of this otherwise amazing console. Ultimately, the pure muscle of MSFT's money and developer relations (the fact that it OWNS bungee, mostly) will out-class the N64 in # of quality software titles. The only thing N64 has going for it software wise is the genius designer Miyamoto (whose work EVERYONE admires). As for other capabilities, X-Box will beat it in specs, too, and the fact that the bungee team probably knows the hardware well enough to release quality games geared towards a more mature (and therefore more likely to spend money on games) crowd (Halo, Myth 3, anyone?). And as well, because of the similarities in PC developement, there will be more developers able to push the limits of the X-Box faster than those who will push the limits of the GameCube. On the whole scale, the GameCube has already lost. History has proven that just because one is the head of an industry doesn't mean that people will buy blindly into it (except maybe in the case of PS2). MSFT might be the new guy, but it certainly knows games (or has paid enough people to know games for them). I still haven't been able to pick out one bad thing about the X-Box, except the fact that it's money in Gates's pocket. We'll see in 2001.
When was the last time anyone could make a photo-realistic CG graphic? I mean, everything that we've seen conveys depth because of shiny shading colours, but why can't I put a reference photograph beside a CG pic and have them look like the same thing? I mean, Lara Croft looks like a plastic doll. Now, we have the capabilities to display a photograph on a monitor, so why can't we generate a photo-realistic CG pic?
Hmm... one couple of celestial bodies twirling around each other at stellar speeds causing a build-up of material which ends in a massive eruption/explosion lasting for three whole hours.
:)
:) (why else are they making bungie sex-seats which are supposed to simulate sex in a weightless environment?)
Go back and read that paragraph, then tell me that you don't see the freudian image painted in that. Damned, it's more blatantly obvious than Adam and Eve. Maybe the 3 hour "bang" disproves the "big-bang" theory
Conclusion: Sex while suspended in weightless space environment can cause massive build-up and eruption
When was the last time internet legislature actually secured anything? Don't tell me that you're completely blind that "warez" site that you KNOW exists. Don't tell me that you're unaware of the existence of FTP sites running on OC-3 backbones massively transferring pre-release games and microsoft betas. And lastly, don't even think about saying that you've never seen a file called "class.nfo" or "myth.nfo" Well, if you really don't know what I'm talking about, then you should reconsider your post, as you obviously don't have enough information about the topic in question.
We're talking about securing music files to rid the world of internet DIGITAL music piracy. Let me just say that the only piracy protection on games that the "Release Groups" have not been able to crack is the logged reg-key. Logged reg-keys are stored remotely, and every time a game - for the sake of argument, let's use Quake 3 as an example - is played (over the internet only) there is a check for the reg-key. If the reg-key which the user entered into the game is in their file of "released keys", then the user is allowed to play, if not, then the user is not. Besides, Quake 3 has been cracked to work with single-player. What can SDMI do? Force only internet-connected users to listen to music? Ha! That's a laugh. Anyway, good day.
Oh yeah, a note on "resources"... umm... one would think that MR Gates has LOTS and LOTS of resources, yet a lot of people use pirated Windows - just a thought.
... shifted my body to type with one hand on the keyboard and one hand close to my center of mass while making jerking movements on my chair? /me's like "/me is stroking your back." :)
:)
Hmm... maybe it should also sense the temperature changes in my body so that if I start fogging up the screen and sitting on the edge of my seat it'll tilt and reposition itself so that I'm pushed back into a more relaxed position to prevent a cyber-induced-heart-attack?
What if someone were to hack the chair's hardware, insert some force feedback cabling devices, plug it into USB port, open source the drivers, then make it respond to IRC
God, couple this new chair with the iFeel Mouseman, push the prices down, bundle it with a web-cam + teleconferencing software and IRC, call it the "Cyber-Flex Productivity Suite," and get a marketing campaign geared towards 14 year olds, then you'll be raking in the dough
Unwilling (or too stupid) to capitalize on its already-made successes might be its downfall. Original games like Virtual On and Sega Super GT are practically Sega coin-op legends in terms of current (post '95) games. No matter what the graphics look like, Virtua On's gameplay is far beyond any combat games I've played recently. Especially in Robotic Combat where most games are simply side-scrolling 3d fighter wanna-be's or Mech Simulators. Yet, was the new version of Virtua On (I've seen it only in Japanese arcades... updated gfx, new characters) even released on console? Well, even if it was, it wasn't hyped at all because I haven't even heard of it. I mean, Sega makes great games - no doubt about that - so why doesn't it port those games onto console and hype it like there's no tomorrow? During the hype for the console port, the arcades will swell up with people playing the game they just found out about through the ads (yeah... people are stupid like that), and when the game's released people will buy it - it's that simple. Think about how N64 has been revived (somewhat) simply because Zelda has finally been released? And now with Majora's mask? Geez. The only reason why N64 tops out is because of the guy (the japanese game designer legend... um... dunno his name... too difficult to remember). Nintendo makes great games, knows it for a fact, and is willing to capitalize on it. When was the last time you didn't hear about a Mario or Zelda game before it came out? Or after? Dreamcast? Hell, I don't even know what games are ON dreamcast! Except for the swiggly logo and vmu, I know nothing about it. Marketing, Sega, gotta do your marketing. With its association with Heat.net, you'd think that Sega would develope a 10 Six port for Dreamcast with hyped graphics... but... alas... they didn't even think about it. Geez... imagine counter-strike on DC (With a mouse... and maybe one handed gamepad) which connected to servers in no time? :)
Thanks,
i-Chaos
If I remember correctly - Star Choice Satellite TV is currently marketing (but has not released yet) a TV system which incorporates instant replay, internet hookup, instant messaging, mp3 audio, and other stuff. Though I haven't seen such a system available yet in Canada, I believe it won't be long before they actually release it. They've just started putting TV commercials on.
Mainland Chinese and Honkees already have raoming GSM chips i.e. cell phone chips that work from Beijing to Singapore First of all, I'm HK Chinese (and I'm assuming you are as well), so I'd like to remind you that Hong Kong people are also very price conscious. If you don't know by now that HK people like to carry around 2 cell-phones or 2 sim cards, then you're the one who has it all wrong. Each company offers an incredible "base-plan." But once you go over your base-minutes you get charged up the ass. Oh yeah, why do HK people change sim cards at the border? It's cheaper to use a local mainland sim-card than to roam from Hong Kong. Nothing to it. Oh yeah, by the way, there are now lots of houses built in Chinese and advertised on Hong Kong television. Hopefully to attract people from Hong Kong. Now, if the marketing chiefs at the respective companies which built the damned homes happened to want to advertise in Hong Kong, are you saying that they're simply throwing their money away? If Hong Kong people didn't want to move to China, they wouldn't advertise on Hong Kong television. Nowadays, people don't want to move to China, but because of the cheap and beautiful homes, it's an easier sacrifice to make. Not EVERYONE is rich, and I guess the poor people will have to move. And another thing - "Honky" is actually the slang term for white-folk, not Hong Kong people. Before you say that someone else is wrong, check your own facts out.
I personally see ISO news as a news media for the internet. I believe that if the constitution protects the KKK's rights to have their own newspaper (as well as the Jehova's witnesses), it will protect the rights of ISO news. Reporting illegal activity to the public should not be a crime - it is merely a factual account of the news. Aside from that, I once saw video footage of people smoking weed on July 1st (Canada day - smoke-in protest in Halifax). It isn't illegal for that station to broadcast footage of illegal activities (using and possessing illegal substances) to spread the message of the protesters (the pot-heads), so how can it be illegal for ISONews to spread news about new DC game releases and how they're ripped, etc? Sega's just pissed off because they know that they're only going to be making money off the DC for another year or so. Once the PS2, GameCube, X-Box, and Indrema come out, Sega's revenues are toast.
Hong Kong will eventually help China become a more technologically advanced country with a higher standard of living - just don't expect instant miracles. As we speak, hundreds of people from Hong Kong are flooding into China with their cell-phones, switching their SIM-cards so that their phone will use the Chinese network (and thus the owner's cell-phone number in China). Chinese cellular comms could not be affordable without the rush of Hong Kong businessmen trying to exploit China's vast consumer base (and thus each buying a sim-card and subscribing to a cell-service in China). And in turn, because cellular-comms is affordable, lots of Chinamen can use it (ok, not a LOT by ratio, but think about it - 1 in 1000 Chinese people owning a cell is STILL a lot of people). As well, WAP will soon invade China, since the HK businessmen who work with China will also want to keep themselves up to date with their stock prices. :)
Also, HK people moving to China (god forbid) also create a demand in the high-tech market. And of course, with those people leading the prices down, consumer-level technology will become affordable to everyone (and thus, you've tapped into a large consumer-base, yet again). Now, if we can only make the Chinese Razor-Imitations not so cheaply made, life would be better (but then again, if the brakes on the imitation-razor didn't burn the rubber off of cheaply made Chinese shoes, sales of imitation-nike shoes would go way down... I wonder when they'll make imitation-FUBU
The open source concept actually works very well with communism, but I'm not sure how much power the government wants people to possess. The gov't of China is a very power-hungry bunch of geriatrics, they can't really think out of the box. The one surprising thing is that your theory about them buying Windows ME is very wrong. If anything, Chinese don't really like to buy software. The asian front is well-known for piracy on corporate levels, even. The other contradiction to buying Windows is that the Chinese gov't (I believe) has adopted a Distro of Linux called "Yellow Star Linux" (or something like that. Maybe they're making it themselves). As a country, on a whole, China is making progress on a philosophical technological level. If only we can get rid of their gov't (someone please bomb the old-people's home they call parliament), life will be so much better. Then again, China has spent the last 100 years digging themselves into a hole, one can't expect them to dig themselves out in 5. Oh yeah, anyone heard about the "Great Wall of China"? The NEW one? Yeah, the firewall they're trying to build around all the Chinese ISP's so that nothing the gov't doesn't like will get to the people of China via the internet. It used to be that Americans can host off-shore anti-China-gov't sites and Chinese can read it. Well, they don't want that to happen anymore, since they can't prosecute the owner of the page if he doesn't live in China. Life sucks, eh?
Now, there'd be a few ways to turn this into a nice little car mounted MP3 player:
One could use a notebook 3.25" drive, OR one could possibly rig up a nice little CD-ROM in there (although I don't know how that'd do on the road. Maybe it could work if you were to somehow buffer the MP3 to memory on play). It would be nice if you could use the Voice Control MP3 player that someone wrote for linux using the ViaVoice SDK, or Knight Rider Player (one that doesn't need LCD) using a keypad to run.
Of course, in my home, when my comp's idle, I run Winamp with Game Commander (windoze box) and have a mic wired across my room to the doorway. The mic is enclosed so that it's facing away from the source but open to the outside. It works okay, not great (Game Commander ain't very responsive). But it's still pretty cool to be able to walk into the house (with some new girl you brought back) and just say "Play the music," and hear it playing. It's quite impressive. Get this box up and running, get a voice-control keystroke proggie (I'm sure you can find one on freshmeat), cram it all into 8MB of disk-on-chip (or get a box with a bigger chip), hook up a 9V DC to AC cigarette adapter (for the linux box), stick the box under the passenger seat, mount the mic somewhere on the cross strap of the drivers' seatbelt, and you're set. That would be one SICK audio system (although I don't know how voice recognition would work if you were blasting 500+ watts with 2 100 watt 12's in the back). If anyone builds anything like this or has any ideas (or better recognition proggies for voice control in their homes) let me know!
slyly1@home.com
Why are there graphic accelerator reviews (OLD ones) posted on slashdot? Are we really out of topics to post about? I mean, there are a lot of sites that'll link to stuff like that (bluesnews, perhaps?). I never thought that slashdot would degenerate to this level.