In other words, East German RAM? Considering the manufacturing abilities of socialist states, I'm not sure I'd like this. Besides, since East Germany disappeared long ago, these chips would have to be... quite old.
Here in Finland, SMS spam was also made opt-in. Nowadays, advertisers send you SMS messages asking whether you want to receive advertising material for [insert product name here], which is just as bad.
Admittedly, Blu-ray isn't on the market yet, but the only real technological step being taken is the use of a higher-frequency laser. The rest of the technology is built upon proven DVD reader/burner techniques.
This is a good point. In short, Blu-ray has in its favour simpler technology and more industry support.
FMD is still total vapor. Those guys have been hyping that vapor for over two years now, but they still have nothing two show or sell. I smell a rat. I think that they've hit some technical hurdles that will keep them from producing anything.
True. A year ago, they were expecting to be on the market round about now. Now, they're saying 2003. FMD may not happen in time to defeat Blu-ray. Of course, Blu-ray could be vapourware, too.
Constellation 3D partners include Warner Advanced Media Operations (a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner) and UK drive manufacturer Plasmon. See Constellation's company info.
The interesting question is whether this will make it to the market before FMD does. Both have roughly similar specs as far as size is concerned, but Constellation brags about transfer speeds of up to 1 Gbps compared to the 50 Mbps of Blu-ray (of course, the 1 Gbps figure is "potential" speed. Both should have hardware on the market in a year or two.
Either way, I think that whoever is first to get a really high-capacity (tens of GB) consumer-level removable optical storage format on the market will be the one who defines the new standard, unless the later competitor is a lot cheaper or better.
Kurt Sibold (Microsoft Germany board chairman) responded (according to the Swedish IDG article):
"The only thing you can achieve by supporting this campaign is to publically discriminate against us by accusing our products and services of being undemocratic and an obstacle to democracy."
and
"What does a decision for or against an operating system have to do with 'democratic rules'? Open Source programs [...] are not by definition a guarantee for free competition, just like the decision to use my company's products is not or was not an 'undemocratic decision'."
Disclaimer: I don't know how accurate IDG's Swedish version is.
Doesn't it seem that these scientists are going out of their way to discredit creationists? While the real bible-toting creationists constantly rail about the godlessness of
science and the inherent evil they see in the theory of evolution, I always thought that the scientific view would be to let the results of solid research speak for themselves. A
thinking person would be able to decide for himself what to make of the whole debate.
Unfortunately, far too many people either don't think or don't accept (or accept selectively) logic, observations, et.c.
The major problem is the segment of creationists that wants to prohibit teaching people about evolution; those whose despite the lack of evidence for their theory and extensive (although still somewhat circumstantial) evidence for evolution feel that creationism is the only right idea.
It's even older than that - I remember some old spectrum games (by codemasters IIRC) that let you play some little games while still loading from the cassette...
Agent X 2 (from Mastertronic) on the Commodore 64 had a Space Invaders clone on the tape loader. At the time, I felt the loading game was more fun than the main game.
I wouldn't go so far as saying/. is insular, but the choice of topics and the language used on the site certainly does not welcome
'outsiders' to stay and become active. The same of course goes for many othe communities on the net (whether about
computing, free software, right-wing or left-wing politics, religious matters and so on). A political site, for example, will tend
to attract a like-minded crowd that will rapidly freeze out or otherwise ignore opposing viewpoints.
True. There seems to be a consensus on most matters on Slashdot. On the other hand, one does occasionally see extensive and productive discussion about what legislation should look like; take a look at the discussion around the article earlier today about an ISP being forced out of business by DoS:ers.
Another matter is of course, that on a site like this, you never get to know other people; it's little more socializing than
following and contributing to the 'Letters' section in a daily paper.
Also a valid point. To clarify, I was concentrating on the "interested in what's happening outside my own home" perspective more than the social one.
Different Net uses
on
Browsing Alone
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Katz neglects to consider the fact that Net usage varies tremendously between different people. For example, your average couch potato is probably not very interested in participating in on-line discussions about the state of society, while others find a way to express their feelings, opinions and suggestions more efficiently to a wider audience through e.g. discussion boards such as this one.
I find it somewhat ironic (in the popular usage of the word - disclaimer to avoid dictionary flames) that Katz posts this article on SlashDot.
MIT student Steve Russell creates Spacewar, the first interactive computer game, on a Digital PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) mainframe computer. Limited by the
computer technology of the time, ASCII text characters are the
"graphics," and people can only play the game on a device that
takes up enough floor space to fill a small house.
Hmm... First, they say that Spacewar uses ASCII graphics, then they provide a screen-shot with vector graphics. The screen shot is correct; a better article on Spacewar can be found here.
I'll do everything within my power, be it donating money to carrying your kids to soccer practice, if you folks will just start writing drivers!
In many cases, the hardware manufacturer doesn't care about Linux support and refuses to release hardware specs to Linux driver/kernel/whatever developers (or anyone else except other hardware manufacturers who turn their chips to cards and so on). So, if your plea is directed at the hardware manufacturers, it makes sense. However, in most cases there is nothing most developers of Linux can do, so you may be barking up the wrong tree.
I remember when Creative finally released the first open source Linux drivers for the SB Live. Shortly after that, Alan Cox popped up, did some Linuxification to the drivers, and since then (more or less), the SB Live has been supported by the official kernel.
On the other hand, my Conexant HCF modem is still unsupported, although we may see some drivers soon. In theory. Conexant has refused any co-operation (to the best of my knowledge) with open source developers.
Isn't closing the source on a GPL'd project a violation of the GPL?
The original copyright holder is always free to relicense his code under whatever license he wishes. In other words, you can take GPL:ed code you have written, and put it under any license you like. However, if there's someone else's code in there, you'll have to remove it unless you get that person's permission.
Sunspire Studios had to rewrite parts of the game to get rid of other people's GPL:ed code, which they couldn't relicense.
Of course, the code on SourceForge is still GPL. They can't change that.
Instead of two voltage levels (traditionally zero or +5 V or something like that), you use three voltage levels. It is usually easiest to use zero, +x V and -x V, but in theory, you could use whatever voltages you like.
If this is successfully completed, we'll have
a completely universal driver for any kind of winmodem without any proprietary code which result in all sorts of kernel version problems.
As far as I can tell, this project doesn't solve the problem of winmodem manufacturers not releasing hardware specs. In other words, you'd have a driver that can tell a DAC/ADC driver what to squirt down the line and work out what the stuff that comes back means, but you still wouldn't be able to use the actual winmodem; you'd have to use a DAC/ADC for which you have drivers. This means either buying a supported modem or a separate DAC, or trying to figure out how to drive the winmodem's DAC and ADC directly.
Of course, persuading manufacturers to release one or two port adresses and a little info on how to use them may be easier than getting them to release full Linux drivers or complete DSP specs. Likewise, working out how to access the DAC/ADC on a winmodem is probably easier than trying to figure out its DSP (although the DAC/ADC may be only accessible to the DSP, which may make things hairy).
I interpret your points about speed and size as meaning its not much worse than c, but it is still worse.
Quite so. C does have the edge in speed; stuff like array index bounds checking, garbage collection, et.c. slow Java down a bit, but not nearly as badly when the Java code is compiled instead of interpreted.
Sun will always own the name rights to Java, so i imagine they could easly and swiftly force kaffe to no longer use the Java trademark in relation to their product. They could make it very difficult for anyone to make a java compiler without their blessing, as they have done to MS. (which strikes me as poetic justice)
So they call it something else. The Mesa project has a similar problem with the name OpenGL, but that doesn't seem to diminish their popularity.
Oh dear. What a load of FUD. I hope I'm not feeding a troll here.
Its interpreted.. or rather run time compiled, call it what you will it will _never_ be as fast as c.
Just-in-time compilation is roughly equivalent to compiling, then executing; this is hardly an uncommon scenario with C programs, is it?
It requires a virtual machine, so it will always be more bloated than c.
Again, this is untrue. Java can easily be compiled to native code.
As the "portability" that you and others in this thread mention, gcc is portable. if you want portable code dont make it closed source.
Closed source is admittedly harded to port, but GCC isn't enough to provide a homogenous environment. E.g. GUI libraries vary a lot between e.g. Windows, Unix and Mac. These are highly cross-platform in Java.
There are "feature-rich" libraries that can be linked to in c also.
This part is quite true. However, the standard Java libraries are more feature-rich than the corresponding standard C libraries.
Java's only good point is its easy to program in, its the modern day equivalent of basic, or visual basic. Once you become a more advanced programmer, the benefit of being easy to
programming in is of reduced benefit.
Ease of use is an advantage to experienced programmers, too (as anyone who's spent ages chasing memory leaks can attest)!
Sun will never let java be really free.. they want to control it just as badly as any other large mega-corporation would, its just about money for them.
Actually, considering the existence of third-party implementations like Kaffe, Sun probably can't close Java completely even if they want to!
"In 1993, Fathammer founder Samuli Syvähuoko helped write Unreal, a 3-D demo that ran on old 386 PCs and won first prize at
Assembly '92."
The original Unreal was released in 1992, an updated version (with GUS support) in 1993. No time travel involved, just some sloppy writing in the Wired article.
It should also be noted that the Unreal demo has lots of parts, some in 2D, some in 3D.
According to section 3.3 of the gnuTellaVision Final Paper, gnuTellaVision uses pings with a TTL of 1 to find the neighbours of each node it has found. In other words, gnuTellaVision does use a little extra bandwidth.
On the other hand, it gets query data using the normal Gnutella procedure (i.e. a neighbour forwards queries to it). Of course, forwarding queries to an extra Gnutella node (the gnuTellaVision program) uses a little bandwidth too.
Slashdot Mirror
In other words, East German RAM? Considering the manufacturing abilities of socialist states, I'm not sure I'd like this. Besides, since East Germany disappeared long ago, these chips would have to be... quite old.
Here in Finland, SMS spam was also made opt-in. Nowadays, advertisers send you SMS messages asking whether you want to receive advertising material for [insert product name here], which is just as bad.
Admittedly, Blu-ray isn't on the market yet, but the only real technological step being taken is the use of a higher-frequency laser. The rest of the technology is built upon proven DVD reader/burner techniques.
This is a good point. In short, Blu-ray has in its favour simpler technology and more industry support.
FMD is still total vapor. Those guys have been hyping that vapor for over two years now, but they still have nothing two show or sell. I smell a rat. I think that they've hit some technical hurdles that will keep them from producing anything.
True. A year ago, they were expecting to be on the market round about now. Now, they're saying 2003. FMD may not happen in time to defeat Blu-ray. Of course, Blu-ray could be vapourware, too.
Constellation 3D partners include Warner Advanced Media Operations (a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner) and UK drive manufacturer Plasmon. See Constellation's company info.
Either way, I think that whoever is first to get a really high-capacity (tens of GB) consumer-level removable optical storage format on the market will be the one who defines the new standard, unless the later competitor is a lot cheaper or better.
Kurt Sibold (Microsoft Germany board chairman) responded (according to the Swedish IDG article):
"The only thing you can achieve by supporting this campaign is to publically discriminate against us by accusing our products and services of being undemocratic and an obstacle to democracy."
and
"What does a decision for or against an operating system have to do with 'democratic rules'? Open Source programs [...] are not by definition a guarantee for free competition, just like the decision to use my company's products is not or was not an 'undemocratic decision'."
Disclaimer: I don't know how accurate IDG's Swedish version is.
Unfortunately, far too many people either don't think or don't accept (or accept selectively) logic, observations, et.c.
The major problem is the segment of creationists that wants to prohibit teaching people about evolution; those whose despite the lack of evidence for their theory and extensive (although still somewhat circumstantial) evidence for evolution feel that creationism is the only right idea.
Agent X 2 (from Mastertronic) on the Commodore 64 had a Space Invaders clone on the tape loader. At the time, I felt the loading game was more fun than the main game.
True. There seems to be a consensus on most matters on Slashdot. On the other hand, one does occasionally see extensive and productive discussion about what legislation should look like; take a look at the discussion around the article earlier today about an ISP being forced out of business by DoS:ers.
Another matter is of course, that on a site like this, you never get to know other people; it's little more socializing than following and contributing to the 'Letters' section in a daily paper.
Also a valid point. To clarify, I was concentrating on the "interested in what's happening outside my own home" perspective more than the social one.
Katz neglects to consider the fact that Net usage varies tremendously between different people. For example, your average couch potato is probably not very interested in participating in on-line discussions about the state of society, while others find a way to express their feelings, opinions and suggestions more efficiently to a wider audience through e.g. discussion boards such as this one.
I find it somewhat ironic (in the popular usage of the word - disclaimer to avoid dictionary flames) that Katz posts this article on SlashDot.
Hmm... First, they say that Spacewar uses ASCII graphics, then they provide a screen-shot with vector graphics. The screen shot is correct; a better article on Spacewar can be found here.
In many cases, the hardware manufacturer doesn't care about Linux support and refuses to release hardware specs to Linux driver/kernel/whatever developers (or anyone else except other hardware manufacturers who turn their chips to cards and so on). So, if your plea is directed at the hardware manufacturers, it makes sense. However, in most cases there is nothing most developers of Linux can do, so you may be barking up the wrong tree.
I remember when Creative finally released the first open source Linux drivers for the SB Live. Shortly after that, Alan Cox popped up, did some Linuxification to the drivers, and since then (more or less), the SB Live has been supported by the official kernel.
On the other hand, my Conexant HCF modem is still unsupported, although we may see some drivers soon. In theory. Conexant has refused any co-operation (to the best of my knowledge) with open source developers.
Considering that the extension .COM is more common on MS-DOS executables than in Linux, I think we're safe.
The original copyright holder is always free to relicense his code under whatever license he wishes. In other words, you can take GPL:ed code you have written, and put it under any license you like. However, if there's someone else's code in there, you'll have to remove it unless you get that person's permission.
Sunspire Studios had to rewrite parts of the game to get rid of other people's GPL:ed code, which they couldn't relicense.
Of course, the code on SourceForge is still GPL. They can't change that.
Apparently, Larry Ewing did the original Tux pictures. He asks that you acknowledge him and the GIMP when using his images (if someone asks).
Instead of two voltage levels (traditionally zero or +5 V or something like that), you use three voltage levels. It is usually easiest to use zero, +x V and -x V, but in theory, you could use whatever voltages you like.
As far as I can tell, this project doesn't solve the problem of winmodem manufacturers not releasing hardware specs. In other words, you'd have a driver that can tell a DAC/ADC driver what to squirt down the line and work out what the stuff that comes back means, but you still wouldn't be able to use the actual winmodem; you'd have to use a DAC/ADC for which you have drivers. This means either buying a supported modem or a separate DAC, or trying to figure out how to drive the winmodem's DAC and ADC directly.
Of course, persuading manufacturers to release one or two port adresses and a little info on how to use them may be easier than getting them to release full Linux drivers or complete DSP specs. Likewise, working out how to access the DAC/ADC on a winmodem is probably easier than trying to figure out its DSP (although the DAC/ADC may be only accessible to the DSP, which may make things hairy).
Quite so. C does have the edge in speed; stuff like array index bounds checking, garbage collection, et.c. slow Java down a bit, but not nearly as badly when the Java code is compiled instead of interpreted.
Sun will always own the name rights to Java, so i imagine they could easly and swiftly force kaffe to no longer use the Java trademark in relation to their product. They could make it very difficult for anyone to make a java compiler without their blessing, as they have done to MS. (which strikes me as poetic justice)
So they call it something else. The Mesa project has a similar problem with the name OpenGL, but that doesn't seem to diminish their popularity.
Its interpreted.. or rather run time compiled, call it what you will it will _never_ be as fast as c.
Just-in-time compilation is roughly equivalent to compiling, then executing; this is hardly an uncommon scenario with C programs, is it?
It requires a virtual machine, so it will always be more bloated than c.
Again, this is untrue. Java can easily be compiled to native code.
As the "portability" that you and others in this thread mention, gcc is portable. if you want portable code dont make it closed source.
Closed source is admittedly harded to port, but GCC isn't enough to provide a homogenous environment. E.g. GUI libraries vary a lot between e.g. Windows, Unix and Mac. These are highly cross-platform in Java.
There are "feature-rich" libraries that can be linked to in c also.
This part is quite true. However, the standard Java libraries are more feature-rich than the corresponding standard C libraries.
Java's only good point is its easy to program in, its the modern day equivalent of basic, or visual basic. Once you become a more advanced programmer, the benefit of being easy to programming in is of reduced benefit.
Ease of use is an advantage to experienced programmers, too (as anyone who's spent ages chasing memory leaks can attest)!
Sun will never let java be really free.. they want to control it just as badly as any other large mega-corporation would, its just about money for them.
Actually, considering the existence of third-party implementations like Kaffe, Sun probably can't close Java completely even if they want to!
No forum for public comment is up yet (first, the proposed settlement must be published in the Federal Register), but should be in the near future.
Surely Slashdot qualifies as a forum for public comment, especially for anything regarding Micro$oft.
The original Unreal was released in 1992, an updated version (with GUS support) in 1993. No time travel involved, just some sloppy writing in the Wired article.
It should also be noted that the Unreal demo has lots of parts, some in 2D, some in 3D.
According to section 3.3 of the gnuTellaVision Final Paper, gnuTellaVision uses pings with a TTL of 1 to find the neighbours of each node it has found. In other words, gnuTellaVision does use a little extra bandwidth.
On the other hand, it gets query data using the normal Gnutella procedure (i.e. a neighbour forwards queries to it). Of course, forwarding queries to an extra Gnutella node (the gnuTellaVision program) uses a little bandwidth too.
Someone asked what this means; it seems reasonable to assume that it means that something polygonal gets killed.
The moderators are on crack again (since when is clarifying the original post, as in my parent to this post, "offtopic"?!?).
Another very extensive site about Rune is here.