A Book, a Statement ...
on
Hacking the XBox
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
... OR BOTH? Being interested in the inner workings of this 'mysteriously powerful black box' I eagerly voided my warranty early on my xbox. Bunnie, did sooo much more...
This book is a good read for anyone interested in system architecture, console hardware, or just getting the best bang for your $buck$. I gained more respect for the system once I knew more about it via,"Hacking the Xbox". I would say that he did a good job putting in content for just about everyone interested. From simple soldering tips to stuff that was just 'over my head' because I don't have the background.
I have an xbox, and it's been violated ten times over. It boots linux, it runs mp3s and DivX, and plays games off of an 80GB harddrive (that sits in a drive bay that swaps out a couple of 60GB drives too). M$ lost money on my purchase and I like it that way, I'm not about to pay $50 a year to them for network play, even if it is good. It's not worth it to me. By the way, email me for tips on modding, I'll try to help you out !!}:D!!
The helplessness that thinking individuals have at moments like this is outrageous. Our government is just begging me to pack up the family and move to Canada or Norway! I think I need to get an xbox and hack the hell out of it, maybe I'll feel a bit better then.
first of all, developing a Sony product or working on the distrition of them is VERY nice in the US, no loss in jobs there.
second, are you one of these ppl that check the labels on everything buying hecho en USA only tags? wake up, we are living in a global economy, and the chances of the US ending up as the next third-world country are nil without a nice global thermal nuke exchange. If is comes to that, xbox vs. ps2 won't be much of an issue.
Well, you are missing the boat then, and should think a little more like a futurist instead of a WWF fan. The xbox is just the latest installment to get into your living room... and even though you dont want to touch their OS with R.S. facial growth, you let them in. You give them more ammo in the war of pushing their other crappy products.
Their are plenty of other GREAT gaming experiences out their without supporting an establishment like ms.
I'd love too, but they are unavoidable in the business of getting your support people to run an office. Writing memos/ letter in Word, posting results to surveys in Excel/Access, or even the clueless that run IIS servers expect to see client s do web work in Frontpage.
You cannot avoid the ubiquitous, an ms is just that... and worst of all, their products don't deserve it. Maybe that will help you understand why they are disliked.
I'd pay ten bucks a year for slashdot.org content. I figure, viewing the site once a day (workday that is, subtracting days off) and the number of articles of interest, that's about a penny an article. Not bad for me, and hell, you guys need the money... right?
Now consider a similar subscription model with the RIAA,MPAA, or some corporation in the media industry. What is it worth to listen to streaming audio, news, and movies? To me, I won't give the RIAA, MPAA, or the any more than necessary. And for that price, they probably aren't interested in me as a customer:)
But then, I am not the custoomer they are after. All those NASCAR watching, Microsoft using, WWF fans out there (lowest common denominator) are the target. They would pay a nice chunk out of their cable bill to watch a streaming video of TheRock beat the hell out of some wanker in make-up with Dale Earnhardts limp body on Window Media Player.
I noticed a few comments from macOS users, but too many from clueless wintel slaves. Here's a little information for the ignorant (just as I am ignorant to the depths of being an admin for an winNT server) :
Working on web and pre-press design projects I will run (remember this is a powerbook): Netscape Navigator (up to 10 or 12 windows open especially if I am using some online tutorials, or references) Netscape Communicator (checking email in real time from email server) BBEdit with numerous files open Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/Pagemaker/Acrobat - drag and dropping between apps, and with probably up to 20 files open of various sizes depending on the project at hand. Three copies of Hotline1.2.3 connected to servers ICQ (when their damn server isnt down) NiftyTelnet 1.1 SSH r3 and SoundJam MP for a little audio caffeine, sometimes streaming in off of a 10mb line into a OC3-T1.
Now this all functions, not because its mac, but because I have a more than average RAM supply and an external monitor in the office. But the system including RAM and external monitor was about $3500.
The system: 400mhz G3 1 mb lvl2 cache (one cycle G3 != one cycle PIII, G3 is faster cycle/cycle) 320 mb RAM MacOS9 Internal ATA 6gig drive 10/100 Base-T ethernet 14.1 active matrix @ 1024x768 External 21" monitor @ 1280x1024 75hz 24bit color
This is a stock system from apple, no upgrades (except the RAM). Granted I have a great network connection to a linuxPPX server - so the small HD isnt a problem - Otherwise, I dont know what you would need more!
So if the above isnt enough processing power for you, well then you are just way to bad-ass for these little mac toys. For a real computer call 1-800-g-a-t-e-w-a-y.
... the users of alternative operating systems and office suites succumb to this. Even if m$ manages to release the schweetest office suite of all time, I like my m$ free environment - and I wont give it up. Things are stable, productive, and system failures have logical solutions. If a m$ office suite is a hit with linux users... I will be very dissappointed. Quit feeding the fire, havent you learned anything yet????!
Its true the more m$ rants and tattles the sicker WE become of them. But then, WE are not what makes m$ what it is. m$ is where it is because of the masses that are following that ITpath leading to the drop off that cliff of a controled m$ net environment. m$ is reaching and I'll bet they play this for all its worth, many will follow.
I hope you arent all clammoring to install software distibuted by the government to help you track and protect yourself from net intrusions. Thats like handing your local police the keys to your house and car.
Scheesch, get a clue! We already have this huge machine to feed with our tax dollars, "law enforcement". What better new machine to start to feed "Net Security". Just think before you jump on some bandwagon you cant get off till it's rollin about 70mph. I have a real problem with the source of these 'attacks', Noone has claimed responsibility, this is odd. Maybe Im not informed well enought, but noone is claiming it.... why not? Think People.
as long as this guys isnt marketing x@blizzard.net with Warcraft graphics and Diablo sounds on his webpage, he can do anything he wants with it short of distributing NAMBLA picts and.img of Blizzard products. Get a clue this is the net!!!
And second if a start up was dumb enough not to the the.net along with the.com, then BillyBoy himself could buy it and use it... IF HE WAS THERE FIRST. Remember this is the net. rm -rf microsoft*
But you arent allowed to protect your trademark with tactics similar to the german NS party of the 1930s. Even if this guy just likes showing off his.gif collection of snowstorms, Blizzard has NO right to cut in "because they are bigger" or "have a copyright on their name".
Blizzard, just like Etoys, is big enough to say, "screw you little guy, I want your domain name". Even though NetworkSolutions is still assing off with the matter and not releasing the etoy.com domain, Etoys has caused considerable irritation.
Blizzard is hoping to muscle the public around like a bully. Well screw 'em. They make nice cut scenes but their games are overrated. Be vocal about your disgust with Blizzard adn these tactics!
the US government has more info on you referenced by the little 9 digit number of joy that you tote long from job to job. recited with every tax return, this familiar number is linked to mailing address, physical address (of home and work), marital staus and possible children, auto registration (there is a load of info here too), power usage at home, phone records, financial information linked from banking institutions using this number as a customer refernce... the list goes on.
Now if I decide to buy a twelve pack of MGD instead of a couple bottles of Grolsch, and "THEY" decide to track it, then fine, fill up that server database HD space with a few more bits on me. I really have nothing to hide as a consumer, And frankly I welcome the day that I dont need to watch a tampon commercial if I am the one watching the Xfiles... hell show me the car ads, and if records show I just got a new car last year, then show me the GAP ads.
But if I as an individual decide I need to have privacy, I wont be logged into AOL, banking online with WellsFargo, getting toilet paper with the SafewayClub card, buying gas at Shell with the Shell MilagePlus Credit Card, or even getting power from a groundline. As an individual I live differently, I have a few POBoxes with different names, use snail mail (because email NEVER has been secure) get power from generators, always pay with cash, barter alot for cash, and eat a shit-load of homegrown tomatos.
Privacy is still exactly where it was 10 years ago, its just that the tracking is more obvious, and more people are becoming aware of it. As far as "EVER GOING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS" attitude... hehe, well Yukon Territory is still pretty damn open, property in Central Mexico or Romania is dirt cheap. But if you are looking for those days in this grand land of ours, well... that died with the fuckin buffalo herds, slaughtered for fun while riding the train a few years back.
Get a clue, dont fool yourself... think a little more, and dont be down on what's going on with technology. Embrace technology as a tool, use it, and let the masses integrate it into their lives with the dependancy of a lungcancer victim and an iron lung. YOU have the CHOICE.
I dont want to just make this an anit-M$ rant but...
#1 I wonder how many of you/. readers are on a M$ box right now. You will be using the M$ streamer soon too.
#2 We are all heading down a road to forced M$ worship because no enough people find ways to avoid it.
#3 I have run an M$-free office for a few years. The only M$ product I will buy is either stolen or pirated (That's why I dont use them). If the M$ media streamer becomes the the only standard, then I wont be enjoying streamed media.
#4 Get radical and make a difference. Make the extra effort. And if you're making a difference already... then thanks!!!!
The trial wasn't about MS being having a monopoly because they are the market leader. It was about MS using their market dominance to lock out competitors.
A companies #1 goal is to market their product to as many users as possible, and create a monopoly. M$ did this well, but then used this monopoly illegally, as the findings state. Just as Billy (Clinton not Gates) getting a bj from his intern isn't illegal, but lying about it in court is, M$s monopoly wasn't illegal, there use of that monopoly to stifle others was.
As 3Com (Palm, USR) nears a PDA monopoly they will hopfully continue to offer an improving product line, contrary to the M$ strategy. A monopoly can work for the consumer by improving standards and therfore a products quality, this doesnt seem to be a M$ philosophy though. M$ needs not only to be split up but also some actual punishment... I just dont know what. The split just doesnt seem like enough for their past disregard for the law, maybe a nice public caning?
Slashdot Mirror
... OR BOTH? Being interested in the inner workings of this 'mysteriously powerful black box' I eagerly voided my warranty early on my xbox. Bunnie, did sooo much more ...
,"Hacking the Xbox". I would say that he did a good job putting in content for just about everyone interested. From simple soldering tips to stuff that was just 'over my head' because I don't have the background.
This book is a good read for anyone interested in system architecture, console hardware, or just getting the best bang for your $buck$. I gained more respect for the system once I knew more about it via
Congrats to getting your publication out Bunnie!
I have an xbox, and it's been violated ten times over. It boots linux, it runs mp3s and DivX, and plays games off of an 80GB harddrive (that sits in a drive bay that swaps out a couple of 60GB drives too). M$ lost money on my purchase and I like it that way, I'm not about to pay $50 a year to them for network play, even if it is good. It's not worth it to me. By the way, email me for tips on modding, I'll try to help you out !!}:D!!
The helplessness that thinking individuals have at moments like this is outrageous. Our government is just begging me to pack up the family and move to Canada or Norway! I think I need to get an xbox and hack the hell out of it, maybe I'll feel a bit better then.
Make sure if you buy one, you don't buy any titles of perifs ...
you have got to be kidding ...
first of all, developing a Sony product or working on the distrition of them is VERY nice in the US, no loss in jobs there.
second, are you one of these ppl that check the labels on everything buying hecho en USA only tags? wake up, we are living in a global economy, and the chances of the US ending up as the next third-world country are nil without a nice global thermal nuke exchange. If is comes to that, xbox vs. ps2 won't be much of an issue.
Well, you are missing the boat then, and should think a little more like a futurist instead of a WWF fan. The xbox is just the latest installment to get into your living room ... and even though you dont want to touch their OS with R.S. facial growth, you let them in. You give them more ammo in the war of pushing their other crappy products.
Their are plenty of other GREAT gaming experiences out their without supporting an establishment like ms.
I'd love too, but they are unavoidable in the business of getting your support people to run an office. Writing memos/ letter in Word, posting results to surveys in Excel/Access, or even the clueless that run IIS servers expect to see client s do web work in Frontpage.
... and worst of all, their products don't deserve it. Maybe that will help you understand why they are disliked.
You cannot avoid the ubiquitous, an ms is just that
HALO is the xbox killer app
Bungie is the only innovative
thing they have on campus now.
I'd pay ten bucks a year for slashdot.org content. I figure, viewing the site once a day (workday that is, subtracting days off) and the number of articles of interest, that's about a penny an article. Not bad for me, and hell, you guys need the money ... right?
:)
Now consider a similar subscription model with the RIAA,MPAA, or some corporation in the media industry. What is it worth to listen to streaming audio, news, and movies? To me, I won't give the RIAA, MPAA, or the any more than necessary. And for that price, they probably aren't interested in me as a customer
But then, I am not the custoomer they are after. All those NASCAR watching, Microsoft using, WWF fans out there (lowest common denominator) are the target. They would pay a nice chunk out of their cable bill to watch a streaming video of TheRock beat the hell out of some wanker in make-up with Dale Earnhardts limp body on Window Media Player.
I noticed a few comments from macOS users, but too many from clueless wintel slaves. Here's a little information for the ignorant (just as I am ignorant to the depths of being an admin for an winNT server) :
Working on web and pre-press design
projects I will run (remember this is a powerbook):
Netscape Navigator (up to 10 or 12 windows open especially if I am using some online tutorials, or references)
Netscape Communicator (checking email in real time from email server)
BBEdit with numerous files open
Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/Pagemaker/Acrobat - drag and dropping between apps, and with probably up to 20 files open of various sizes depending on the project at hand.
Three copies of Hotline1.2.3 connected to servers
ICQ (when their damn server isnt down)
NiftyTelnet 1.1 SSH r3
and SoundJam MP for a little audio caffeine, sometimes streaming in off of a 10mb line into a OC3-T1.
Now this all functions, not because its mac, but because I have a more than average RAM supply and an external monitor in the office. But the system including RAM and external monitor was about $3500.
The system:
400mhz G3 1 mb lvl2 cache (one cycle G3 != one cycle PIII, G3 is faster cycle/cycle)
320 mb RAM
MacOS9
Internal ATA 6gig drive
10/100 Base-T ethernet
14.1 active matrix @ 1024x768
External 21" monitor @ 1280x1024 75hz 24bit color
This is a stock system from apple, no upgrades (except the RAM). Granted I have a great network connection to a linuxPPX server - so the small HD isnt a problem - Otherwise, I dont know what you would need more!
So if the above isnt enough processing power for you, well then you are just way to bad-ass for these little mac toys. For a real computer call 1-800-g-a-t-e-w-a-y.
... the users of alternative operating systems and office suites succumb to this. Even if m$ manages to release the schweetest office suite of all time, I like my m$ free environment - and I wont give it up. Things are stable, productive, and system failures have logical solutions. If a m$ office suite is a hit with linux users ... I will be very dissappointed. Quit feeding the fire, havent you learned anything yet????!
Its true the more m$ rants and tattles the sicker WE become of them. But then, WE are not what makes m$ what it is. m$ is where it is because of the masses that are following that ITpath leading to the drop off that cliff of a controled m$ net environment. m$ is reaching and I'll bet they play this for all its worth, many will follow.
I hope you arent all clammoring to install software distibuted by the government to help you track and protect yourself from net intrusions. Thats like handing your local police the keys to your house and car.
.... why not? Think People.
Scheesch, get a clue! We already have this huge machine to feed with our tax dollars, "law enforcement". What better new machine to start to feed "Net Security". Just think before you jump on some bandwagon you cant get off till it's rollin about 70mph. I have a real problem with the source of these 'attacks', Noone has claimed responsibility, this is odd. Maybe Im not informed well enought, but noone is claiming it
as long as this guys isnt marketing x@blizzard.net with Warcraft graphics and Diablo sounds on his webpage, he can do anything he wants with it short of distributing NAMBLA picts and .img of Blizzard products. Get a clue this is the net!!!
.net along with the .com, then BillyBoy himself could buy it and use it ... IF HE WAS THERE FIRST. Remember this is the net. rm -rf microsoft*
And second if a start up was dumb enough not to the the
But you arent allowed to protect your trademark with tactics similar to the german NS party of the 1930s. Even if this guy just likes showing off his .gif collection of snowstorms, Blizzard has NO right to cut in "because they are bigger" or "have a copyright on their name".
Blizzard, just like Etoys, is big enough to say, "screw you little guy, I want your domain name". Even though NetworkSolutions is still assing off with the matter and not releasing the etoy.com domain, Etoys has caused considerable irritation.
Blizzard is hoping to muscle the public around like a bully. Well screw 'em. They make nice cut scenes but their games are overrated. Be vocal about your disgust with Blizzard adn these tactics!
the US government has more info on you referenced by the little 9 digit number of joy that you tote long from job to job. recited with every tax return, this familiar number is linked to mailing address, physical address (of home and work), marital staus and possible children, auto registration (there is a load of info here too), power usage at home, phone records, financial information linked from banking institutions using this number as a customer refernce ... the list goes on.
... hell show me the car ads, and if records show I just got a new car last year, then show me the GAP ads.
... hehe, well Yukon Territory is still pretty damn open, property in Central Mexico or Romania is dirt cheap. But if you are looking for those days in this grand land of ours, well ... that died with the fuckin buffalo herds, slaughtered for fun while riding the train a few years back.
... think a little more, and dont be down on what's going on with technology. Embrace technology as a tool, use it, and let the masses integrate it into their lives with the dependancy of a lungcancer victim and an iron lung. YOU have the CHOICE.
Now if I decide to buy a twelve pack of MGD instead of a couple bottles of Grolsch, and "THEY" decide to track it, then fine, fill up that server database HD space with a few more bits on me. I really have nothing to hide as a consumer, And frankly I welcome the day that I dont need to watch a tampon commercial if I am the one watching the Xfiles
But if I as an individual decide I need to have privacy, I wont be logged into AOL, banking online with WellsFargo, getting toilet paper with the SafewayClub card, buying gas at Shell with the Shell MilagePlus Credit Card, or even getting power from a groundline. As an individual I live differently, I have a few POBoxes with different names, use snail mail (because email NEVER has been secure) get power from generators, always pay with cash, barter alot for cash, and eat a shit-load of homegrown tomatos.
Privacy is still exactly where it was 10 years ago, its just that the tracking is more obvious, and more people are becoming aware of it. As far as "EVER GOING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS" attitude
Get a clue, dont fool yourself
rm -rf microsoft*
I dont want to just make this an anit-M$ rant but...
/. readers are on a M$ box right now. You will be using the M$ streamer soon too.
#1 I wonder how many of you
#2 We are all heading down a road to forced M$ worship because no enough people find ways to avoid it.
#3 I have run an M$-free office for a few years. The only M$ product I will buy is either stolen or pirated (That's why I dont use them). If the M$ media streamer becomes the the only standard, then I wont be enjoying streamed media.
#4 Get radical and make a difference. Make the extra effort. And if you're making a difference already... then thanks!!!!
sorry bout the rant.
The trial wasn't about MS being having a monopoly because they are the market leader. It was about MS using their market dominance to lock out competitors.
... I just dont know what. The split just doesnt seem like enough for their past disregard for the law, maybe a nice public caning?
A companies #1 goal is to market their product to as many users as possible, and create a monopoly. M$ did this well, but then used this monopoly illegally, as the findings state. Just as Billy (Clinton not Gates) getting a bj from his intern isn't illegal, but lying about it in court is, M$s monopoly wasn't illegal, there use of that monopoly to stifle others was.
As 3Com (Palm, USR) nears a PDA monopoly they will hopfully continue to offer an improving product line, contrary to the M$ strategy. A monopoly can work for the consumer by improving standards and therfore a products quality, this doesnt seem to be a M$ philosophy though. M$ needs not only to be split up but also some actual punishment
I have to admit, the possibility of Quake3 on a quad G4 is a good enough reason for Johnnie to support SMP.