Yeah, I bought a new car recently with side impact airbags. I was driving down the interstate last week and *whammo* the passenger side airbag went off. Completely at random.
I know you are being funny here, so I'm not trying to incite some kind of war. However, I used to work as a service line technician for a dealership a few years back, when air bags were still relatively new. Most dealerships, you see, have big metal tables to throw those couple hundred pound transmissions up on and leak oil all over without hurting anything.
We had all kinds of procedures we had to follow, had these anti-static "towels" that we'd wrap around the air bag, etc, etc. That didn't keep some of them going off, though. Whether they weren't wrapped properly, or the early ones were really skittish, who knows at this point. Sounded like guns going off, and if you've never been in an accident (thank the Lord) and witnessed one of these up close, take my word for it. These things are pretty scary.
Luckily, at least while I was with that dealership, no one was hurt by them. Just startled out of our mind..... one of them caused a fire once, but that's an entirely different story involving an acetalane torch, exhaust work, and a nearby fuel line. So we'll just save that one for another day.
Out of the interests of complete information exchange, I thought I'd post this to the/. readers. Even though someone else has already mentioned it, here is a snippet from a press release.
San Francisco, CA - January 7, 2004 - GarageBand.com, the internet's largest legal source of free MP3 music, and Apple Computer have signed an agreement to share the name "GarageBand." The deal was signed in April 2003 but kept confidential by both parties until now.
Under the terms of the agreement, Apple Computer (Nasdaq:AAPL) pays GarageBand.com for the rights to use the name "GarageBand" for its music-creation software, part of the Apple iLife suite launched this week. GarageBand.com (http://www.garageband.com) will otherwise retain its original rights to use the name for a vast range of products and services.
Which, when you think about it, this makes sense. Apple paid to license the whole "one click technology" even though many people said "Yeah, but it's so obvious, how can it have a patent." Apple likes to be very one sided with respect to their legal department. They send enough cease and desist that they don't want to see one come their way so they just pay for it even if it's something that might be "obviously" no where near the same.
We've been talking about and listening to rants and diatribe and dialog and etc. about Outsourcing lately. Alot of talk is going on now right here about the subject because of the very nature of the question you have asked. Unfortunately, this whole world economy that everyone keeps talking about is here.
As cool as the Linux kernel is, and as interesting as the free software movement might be, it has proven time and time again one very frightening fact. Your developers do not need to be in the same cube, the same room, the same building, state, country or even the same continent. You can code software from around the world, paying salaries as different and diverse as the new world wide employees. Everyone and their brother-in-law knows how to code today. Some of course are real sloppy, or mere script kiddies that know how to tweak here or there. Then there are some that are insane in their brilliance.
In my opinion, with the economy in the U.S. of today, if you have a job offer, you are the lucky one. There are many of us, myself included, who have been forced to take massive pay cuts due to layoffs, mass firings, outsourcing, labor replacement, you name it. The industry is flooded with technical people right now..... except I've heard that the need for computer oriented auto mechanics is getting ready to explode. But, rumors are rumors.
I read a book once, of which the main point was, a rich man does not work for an employer, he is the employer. (For our female techs..... rich woman.... she is.) Now obviously, it's probably impossible for everyone in the world to be their own employer. However, there is truth to the statement.
Not that anyone cares, but my mother is an R.N. She works as a nurse and makes a little over 50K a year. My parents are comfortable, but with three sons, college, autos, and a house, my father still works to help with bills. The current economic state of the U.S., not just in technology, but across the board, is in trouble. Just watch the politicians as they run around trying to jump start it.
NAFTA and trade agreements like it, while helping the prices of some of our goods ultimately be cheaper, have caused less of us to have the money to buy the goods in the first place. As I've said before (though I'm not sure how many times on/.) Chevy trucks from Mexico, the Camaro was from Canada, Toyota Tundra from Indiana, Mercedes G Wagen from Georgia (of all places that's where they are moving the plant.) and all points in between. We, as a people on the whole and I'm not trying to attack any one person here, are lazy. Americans are lazy. Hell, I'm lazy. One of the greatest things I've ever seen in this world, however, is the human ability to adapt. We have been Rome for so long. On top of the world and lounging on our bottoms, when suddenly a revolution occurs and many die in a bloody battle.
Our revolution is here, many will perish, true. But in time we will adapt and learn bigger and better ways to do whatever it is we do. Personally, computers are becoming so commodity that it's almost time for the next great thing. Because, necessity is the mother of invention. Right now it is necessary to create more jobs for our country. It's time for invention to be reborn!!
Sorry about the rant, but this question gave me the perfect venue to vent it. Thanks.
This will probably just be viewed as a personal rant, probably because it is. It most certainly isn't my patent pending Bullshit Theory of the Day. However, I know that when certain companies get themselves into the Slashdot news they skulk and troll around to see what people are saying.
So here goes.
A little over a month ago, SUN held a little webinar. You sign up for the seminar, watch the keynote, answer some questions, and they promise me a free copy of Java Desktop.
Even before this promise, as a continuing student, I have contacted SUN sales to inquire about educational discounting, because I'm really wanting to get the software installed on something! Even if it means they aren't going to offer me support. Their last response, it's coming soon.
Now all the Wally Worlders are getting their copies of JDS before mine?! Man, that's just annoying.
And what the heck, while I'm ranting and raving and going to be modded into oblivion anyway, what about a copy of Looking Glass to go along with it? I'm more than happy to be a beta.
In a linux magazine I read regularly (and I can't remember right now if it is Linux Format which is a UK publication or Linux Journal) they ran an article just a couple months ago about some company in Germany I think that is running what they call something like the "Open Source Music License."
The only reason I bring this up is because in my opinion the concept they are using is pretty cool. *YOU* decide how much you are going to pay for an artists album and then are given access to download it from their web site.
When you are on the payment screen it has these reminds of what percentage of your payment goes directly to the artist (and I seem to remember it's fairly high, something like 30-50% then again, I've slept since then.) So if you think it's only worth a buck, it tells you the artist is getting 50 cents, but if you pay 10 bucks it tells you the artist is getting 5 bucks
I'm trying to give you guys as much information as my swiss cheese brain can remember because I can't remember the URL, but if I remember it later on I'll hunt up the issue I'm talking about and let you know more about it.
May turn out to be an interesting replacement for MP3.com. Just a thought.
Hello everyone, and it's time once again for my patented, and trademarked, Bullshit Theory of the Day!!! Now before we get started, I'd just like to say that the lines of code that make up the Eclipse BTD have been rumored to be in the SCO kernel.
I felt the need to reply to this parent in particular because they bring up that Ford in particular is full of PhD level Engineering types. A recent documentary on the history of Ford made a remark that stuck with me. This statement brought it back full force to be shared with you fine people right now.
Henry Ford, as far as book learning and general scholastic endeavors are concerned, was.... how to put this delicately.... not very bright. It is widely rumored that Henry Ford couldn't even spell the word "Model" in the Ford Model A.
As the documentary put it: "If Henry Ford were to be alive today, and to try to gain employment at Ford Motor Company, he would most likely be refused because he couldn't finish the written application."
However, as with other inventors of our time, it wasn't just that Henry Ford had figured out how to build what was needed to supply the demand, he was a master showman and was able to sale the need for the demand. Remember, at the time, most people thought the horse and buggy could never be replaced. I mean, come on, who needs to be able to travel cross country in comfort?
Which brings us the the BTD!!
You don't need to be a genius to make it big. In fact, it probably just hinders you because you spend all your time fixing the problem and not enough time on what you need to focus on. Selling yourself to those who don't yet know that they need you.
Do yourself a favor and read Carnegie's "How to Make Friends and Influence People." Give yourself confidence in the abilities you already possess. Because believe me, the people I work for would never hire a PhD level anything. The rule of thumb where I work is this... "If they had enough time on their hands to spend 10 years in college to become a doctorate, they had too much time on their hands and never really learned how the world around them works."
Now, I've gotten flames about this in the past. But no, I won't tell you who I work for or where we're located. Mainly, oddly enough, because I can't. We've got some really odd views on NDA's around here. Apparently since I'm not an actual member of "Sales" I'm not allowed to use our company logo, slogan, etc. *shrugs* I think they're afraid all of the "Geek Friends" I have online will attack us or something. The boss keeps mumbling "Slashdot Effect."
Silly employer, Scripts are for Kiddies.
Anyway, as always, this is all my own two cents, and the opinion, wisdom, nuggets of truth, statements of brash stupidity, and ability to go from 0 - Completely Flamed in 2.1 seconds are of one Reverend Booher and in no way reflects the views of my religion or employer.
Hello friends and planetpeople (A globally PC term akin to countrymen?) It's time once again for Uncle Eclipse's Bullshit Theory of the Day!
At 13:22 June 03, 2003 Mr. Davak asked "Which hardware would you rather buy for a new home linux system?" Which was apparently asked by a *NIX loving friend of his. As a *NIX loving systems admin myself I think now is the time to throw in my 2 cent rant.
But before I can even begin, a question needs to be asked. What is this *NIX loving friend going to be using the machine to do? Because.... I'm using a SUN SPARCstation 5.... and it's pretty *NIXy
But on to the BTD!! IBM is currently working like mad to get the PowerPC 970 ready for mass production. Apple has a conference slated for this month (oh the giddiness!) Intel and AMD are still trying to figure who can do 64 bits better, and VIA continues to make one heck of a *cold* x86 compatible chip.
What does this all mean for our *NIX loving friends? What can't you run Linux on today?
Linux, as everyone is well aware, was originally designed, coded, fed, raised, and potty trained on an x86 devised system. Put into the Internet central core by some Finnish guy that no one can remember the name of, Linux on x86 is like butter on bread. It just feels *so* good!
For a "Build it Yourself" kind of guy, Linux on an x86 can do no wrong. I personally have a dual Pentium II 300 Mhz system with 128 MB of RAM running Linux as an internal file server for my house..... which would be pretty huge to all of you if you knew the infinite amounts of Pr0n the thing supplies each of the bedrooms with on a daily basis. It was designed and bred for this very purpose. *NIX serving on an x86 platform.
However, Linux was also built to be fairly portable. The fact that it's very code is available to anyone with the mind to read it guarantees this fact. If an engineer can design a processor to do something, *anything*, there is a geek somewhere that can figure out how to get Linux on it.
Which brings me to my Blue and White G3 (I believe it's a "Yosemite" to the Macifites) and my beloved PowerMac 8500. Ah the love...... My 8500 has two non Apple NIC's in it along with YellowDog Linux for Mac's. It is *SO* happy to run as a Firewall I can't even begin to explain it. (Trust me, if you use Linux on an 8500.... get a NIC for it. The Apple NIC is really weird, and I'm not so sure it isn't using something odd on the motherboard. The thing never seems to flow quite right.) So the PowerPC processor also takes to Linux like a duck on water.
And this is what IBM is hoping for. Going back to the IBM PowerPC 970, it is the new "desktop" chip from IBM based off of the Power4 (none of this is new to long time Slashdot patrons.) It is 64 bit and from what little has been heard about it, will be a fairly screaming little chip..... for Linux.
IBM is going to attempt to enter the *NIX Workstation market. A market long dominated by the likes of my (also) beloved SUN and (to a degree) by SGI. What makes this so interestingly important? Intel builds a processor, and places this processor on the market for the widest possible penetration. Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, BeOS, even OS2.... all designed *toward* or *around* the processor. IBM has (kind of) reversed this and is designing their processor around the Linux kernel. They are placing huge amounts of R&D money on this chip, why? To give it to Apple and let them run it as a G5?
No! To give it to themselves and use it as an x86 equalizer. Titanicium or whatever Intel's 64 bit chip is called and the Hammer are all new implementations of code by companies that have like 400 years of 32 bit experience. IBM has been using the Power4 for a generation now. They have some of the bugs worked out of it. And now they are working their little butts off to get Linux
Most of the buzz on the PS3 indicates that it will be arriving in 2005. So why come out with a "Super PS2" in 2004 that will do all sorts of cool things"
Hello everyone! Time once again for my Bullshit Theory of the Day!!CAUTION: The following post may contain an enormous amount of information that can not be properly processed by the human brain, and is therefore, false.
Let's use over generalized stereotypical assumptions for todays BTD! The Japanese are an extremely conservative people. They like doing one thing and doing it well, just look at their cartoons! So many of them have invaded our airwaves you'd think every man, woman, and child in Japan was drawing one. How does this lend stock to the new Sony Playstation 2.5 PSX UltraSuperDuper Toaster Oven? They do one thing, so why not do it well.
When the Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) was introduced into the United States (US) Sony still had a huge hit on their hands with the previous generation Sony Playstation (PS1). I don't think they could honestly explain it. All of their numbers indicated that the PS2 was flying off the shelves. However, all their numbers also indicated that the PS1 was flying off the shelves.
In previous console war generations. The manufacturing body has killed off the originating console in preference to the new system. Atari, Nintendo, even Sega. They would introduce the new system, then clearance the old system into oblivion. Since all new systems were not backward compatible (with exception of the 7200) out of the gate or without add on hardware this was a fact of life.
Consumers only have so much money with which to purchase shiny new toys. So the shiny new toys that they purchase are both shiny, and new. The PS2 was the first system in a long while that was built with reverse compatibility in mind. Almost all PS1 games would work with the PS2 hardware without any trouble at all.
What this meant to the bottom line was that people were still purchasing brand new PS1 games at brand new prices. Because they could be used with the PS2 hardware and the PS2 games were very sparse. This is true of all new console hardware launches. The launch games are usually 5 to 10 strong, then it's almost a year before a new rush of great games are available for the system. Sony some how over came this previously unscalable mountain.
However this isn't what confused them the most. The PS1 itself was still selling unreasonably well. (Which is what prompted the retool and revamp of the PS1 hardware.) My brother bought a PS1 the other day and he owns a PS2..... he likes that the PS1 is much more portable and can be carried around on trips and such.
Then you have the people like me that really messed the whole numbers game up. Again, new hardware kills old hardware. Games aren't compatible. So what happens is Early Adopting (EA) consumers buy all the shiny new toys, and usually all 5 of the launch titles. Then they are hurting for money because they just laid down $600.00 US. What can they do? They sell their old system of course. Get rid of that 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and sell it to some one who can't possibly afford $600.00 US for maybe $150.00 US along with all the software you had for it and use the money to eat on the next month while your cash reserves rebuild.
But that didn't happen this time. I pretty much *gave* my PS1 away to a family member, because it wasn't worth trying to sell. I wasn't selling a single game with it. I kept all the PS1 games I owned (which was quite a large library) because they worked with the shiny new PS2 I had just bought. Said family member then had to go out and start a whole new library of games (at brand new prices remember) for a system that was last generation. Sony sat and scratched their heads for weeks on this one I'm sure.....
But let's face facts. The PS1 is old.... real old when it comes to console standards. I don't think any
Last week I received this months copy of SysAdmin magazine in the mail. What happened to accompany my magazine in the shrink wrap? None other than Microsoft's Services for UNIX 3.0 which used to be Interix Services. It's possible that this product has the potential to contain code that could be obtained from other sources.
I don't remember much about Interix before Microsoft bought them, but I do remember using a demo copy of the Interix Services package and what it did do was pretty cool. It gave a UNIX functionality layer to the NT system. You could log in via SSH and perform all command line functions that you would find on any *BSD, *Linux box. Including cross compile. I seem to remember the demo package including GCC that had been compiled specifically for this package.
Unfortunately I don't have a single MS box in my current possession to install this on to play with. One of my poor, ailing, FreeBSD boxes might get wiped to play with this for a few weeks.
Since everyone else is throwing out conspiracy theories, I suppose I'll throw my own into the arena. CAUTION the following is frivolous bullshit that has no way to be proven except in my own mind. But isn't that true of most of these theories people have?
Interix starts out as a company to build a UNIX compatibility layer for the NT kernel. What better way than to look at the source that is freely available to decide what road to take. Looking at *BSD and *Linux they find that with a little effort they can write a compatibility layer and run pure *NIX apps right on top of NT. (They even have a XR11 port for this layer) All fun, all native, all fast.
Since this is starting out as an exercise in theoretical mechanics of getting UNIX to operate directly on NT, they borrow some "free" code to figure out how exactly to get it all to fit together. Purely with the intention of yanking all "borrowed" code later should this prove to work as they can afford to.
Their compatibility layer works better than expected, apps can easily cross compile to their pseudo-kernel and anyone that isn't directly in front of the box doesn't know they aren't talking to UNIX. This causes Uncle Bill to take notice. He likes what they are doing, and since his own Services for UNIX is pretty piss poor he does what he does best. Buys the company. (I'm not just an Interix client, I liked them so much I bought the company.)
So now, instead of ripping out all the "borrowed" code that is working so well, the new team, who is partnered with pieces of the old team, continue to develop along side each other, integrating the MS UNIX codebase that was Services for UNIX into the Interix codebase to build SFU 3.0.
SCO comes along and starts the whole lawsuit procedure but isn't giving any examples of code. Uncle Bill, preferring to stay quiet and in control, doesn't know if they need to scrap the project or not. Easiest solution? Buy the rights to the problem. License the technology you've already stolen and improved upon, gaining the legal right to use it, before the originating company realizes what you are doing and comes after you.
MS may have deep pockets, but they aren't bottomless, and I believe the legal battles with Apple taught them one very important lesson. End it quick and as painless as possible, keep the government out of it, because they have a tendency to side with people who may be my enemy (MS almost lost the anti-trust suit before Clinton left office?) So make it go away quietly so as not to draw attention to us.
Ok, look. I'm going to have to admit to being a little naive here and.... why is my rear end suddenly getting warmer, please put the flamethrowers down until *after* the post. I don't really understand why so many people are so caught up in complaining about this.
I don't play games, typically, so I'm not your average raving fanatic ready at all times with my tome of useless time line knowledge on the whole of the gaming industry. However, I know that it is big business, and I also know that manufacturers are beginning to look in the direction of the gaming developers as the next level of high line computing.
But did Id software start out, fully formed. Leaping from the bushes, games firmly in boxes hidden beneath trenchcoats ready to make nefarious deals? Psst. Buddy.... need a game? One of the great things about online forums is no one really knows how old anyone else is, until statements like the one I am about to make are made. Then one dates themselves. But, I remember a time back in the days of dinosaurs when we had these little programs called "Shareware."
I seem to remember that the original Wolfenstein 3D was shareware. Wasn't it out before Doom and Quake? The first 3D shooter of the genre? Even though Doom was the biggie, and apparently built modern gaming as we know it. The ol' Wolf was pretty "bad" back then. For all the youngsters, "bad" is a term indicating something was really "rad," "hip," or "cool." Which are all terms to indicate "Good." God I hope "good" is still in Webster's Dictionary.
These games, you see, were on a floppy diskette. You could pick them up all over the place, flea markets, the gas station, the grocery store. I kid you not, you could buy Wolfenstein 3D from my local grocery store. Then there were other true Id favorites. Duke Nukem. Which had three parts, or seperate games, if memory serves. All of them shareware. Written by some really imaginative people in a garage somewhere. All they ever asked for was like $10 - $15 bucks for a game. You mail them a payment, and they send you a code to unlock all of the game, or send you the floppy with the full game already on it.
Don't you think that all of these "High line Gaming Developers who would Shape the industry and our world as we know it" had day jobs? All of them did, I'm sure of it. Even if there day job was coding another project (maybe even another game) They weren't feeding their families on this. They were using it for the exact same thing that I read out of this.
A chance.
Plain and simple. They wanted to be noticed, wanted their software to be used. Wanted their games to be played. And shareware was so much more than games, they had spreadsheet programs, comic book databases, you name it there was a shareware program that could do it. Oh wait.... that is kind of like the GNU/GPL/OpSo software today. Software all written for a chance to get noticed and have the opportunity to do something really really cool. By really imaginative people.
I can't help but read through all the posts that are saying things like "This sucks." or "You suck." or even "You want me to code you something for free so you can make money off of it." and think to myself. How disappointing. No vision in any of them. Not a single imaginative soul in the lot. You don't seem able to see things in the larger perspective. This isn't about working for free. Hell, it can be argued that all of us work for free. It is about attaching *your* name to a project. Giving *your* John Hancock to the world of gaming. Something that Rare and InfoGrams and Sega and hell even Microsoft might notice
This is about screaming I to the world. Well I say I damnit. Crazy script kiddies that don't know how to do anything that doesn't come with instructions. If you can't click next, next, next then you think you can't do it. You have to have it all spelled out for you because you as a world are afraid, you're all terrified of failing. This has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with knowing the whole world is laughing at you. But you know what. Sign me up.
That's right. Sign me up. I don't know a thing about C, or C++. I know bash shell scripting, I'm a UNIX administrator. I know some PERL and a little BASIC. Go on, laugh at me. That's right. I used to code games in BASIC for the Commodore 64. Bring it on. Because I'm not afraid. Whether you think that you can, or that you can not, you are right! And I tell you I can. I'll learn C, I'll learn C++, put my name on the list. Bill it as Ed Booher's Optika World VII. But give me my chance!
Mr. DeVille, I'm ready for my close up.
Re:Giant Robots? Here we go into offtopic land
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Giant Mecha News
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Well, ok. I just can't bite my tongue on this one. Because even though the AC is poking fun, with Blackadder even which is pretty interesting spin, the original question is valid.
Honestly, how practical are GIANT ROBOTS for waging actual combat?
Those of us who grew up playing BattleTech, and some of us who now play the HeroClix Dark Age game know that giant robots would never be used in actual combat. In combat you want to be as small as you possibly can. The bigger the target, the easier it is to hit.
But the child in all of us still loves the concept of giant robots duking it out in the quiet streets of our home town of Tokyo.... err Indy.... wherever. This is why all of these Japanese Mecha Anime do so well, not just in the U.S., but in Japan, or Korea, or England, or etc ad naseum.
It's also the same reason you can log on to eBay, do a search on "Dark Age" and get back 20+ pages worth of hits. We just love giant robots, man!
Well, actually.... the article *is* pretty clear about if they are including the movie or not. It says.... The final cut of the Evangelion movie--Death(True)2, Air, and Magokoro wo Kimi ni--will also be included. Gainax's newly announced "bonus disc" will contain creditless opening and closing video, the original teaser trailer, and a never-before released live-action edition of the film. All discs will fit in a limited edition art box.
Not only do they include the theatrical movie, that we had to wait so long to get in the states. But they are also be including a "live-action edition of the film." I'm sorry.... What?!
I'm seriously tempted to get this set even with out English subtitles.... just to see what that whole live-action thing is all about. I mean, is it just one episode, or like a test print, or is it a full on movie that they expected to show, finished it, and was like, "Nah that sucks, let's just animate the movie too"??
You know, let's just assume for a minute, that this cult church of loons has succeeded in producing a full clone of an already living human subject. Let's focus on the benefits of this technology.
If we know how to keep the DNA strand together and create a living human embryo from it, then the next step is truly wonderful.
Gene Splicing.
Muhahahahahaahahahahh!!! It's only a matter of time now before I can splice the genes of a calico with a Swedish bikini model and live out all of my anime fantasies!
Yesterday, clones of sheep
Today, clones of humans
Tomorrow, clones of cat chicks!
Meow!
I now return you to your regularly scheduled delusions.
Ok, call me crazy here. Heck, call me eccentric if it makes you feel better. But I don't believe a computer is a good medium on which to give a child games to play.
Consoles are infinitely better for game playing. There are no IRQ conflicts, or resolution errors, or sound card inquiry mishaps. If you own a GameCube, and you buy a GameCube game it typically works, period.
A computer, IMHO, is for work. Writing reports and documentation. Setting up internal PBX systems. Placing more cannon fodder in the path for the OS religious.
With consoles having more and more power with each revision, many are not far behind stand alone PC systems anyway. Also, with systems like the Xbox which are fundamentally a computer system in a box regulated to a specific duty, great amounts of "Only a computer can hope to push the graphics for this copy of 'Quaking under my Halo while my Doomed Sole of Unreal Boots Made for Walking in the Sunshine Part 700'" are being ported to the consoles with the same amount of gameplay as their PC counterparts.
Personally, call me an old fuddy duddy, but I don't think I have a single game installed on any computer I own currently. I do however own a GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 to get my gaming fix.
Kids really appreciate the "drop it in, push the button, play the game" aspect of consoles as well. If you want your kids to learn Linux. Then give them Linux, and don't worry about any of the games. Just place a console next to it and let them have Mario.
As always, this is just my two cents. No one who knows me is likely to agree with me.
What ever happened to the IBM released ATX compliant, socket (PPC) motherboard specs? I used to have a link to them, but I can't find it now.
All I remember is that a couple of years ago, IBM released an open resource platform that was a standard ATX implementation for their (at the time) top of the line PPC604 chips.
The thing looked just like an (Intel) board that we've all come to know and love. It had DIMM sockets, a ZIFF based processor socket, PCI bus, AGP video (though for some reason I seem to remember it *not* having USB).
All of these companies (something like six, which is a lot in this type of industry Mainboard wise, right?) jumped on the build about PowerPC motherboards. "It was like several PC component manufactures cried out in agony, and then were suddenly silenced." Because they all, like, just disappeared off the radar.
Did Apple pull some kind of "Don't you dare let them build those motherboards or we'll walk" type of attitude? Because it's just *really* odd that I didn't see a *single* physical computer get built out of all these announced and proposed PowerPC Linux workstation systems.
See, this is why I use PINE. Who needs all the bells and whistles of Outlook or Netscape anyway?? If I get an email, any email with an HTML header..... *goodbye*.
Simple, plain, non-formatted ASCII text. That is what email is all about! Shell to my mail server, open a Pine session. Oh... look at that 100 MB file stuck in my inbox. *D*elete! Muhahahahah!
sighs I miss the old days of the internet when we didn't need all this fancy flash driven commerce bull5h!7
It will be nice when they do release some source for this, and make all of the technical documents available. I'd like something to look over about all of this autoconfiguration software.
I mean, am I the only person this scares? Microsoft Outlook had (has) the autoexecute feature that allows virii authors to introduce new and inventive ways to drop rootkits into IIS servers.
Linux has their own little features that have to be guarded against as well. In the basis of security very few of my companies Linux boxes are running any form of FTP. Way too many security alerts, and 90% of the boxes don't need to do file transfers anyway.
Now Apple offers us a really cool and interesting technology that will allow a computer to automatically find a printer. How long before one of these virii authors writes himself an object that allows his PowerBook G4 to introduce itself to a Rendevous network and take control of several machines at once.
Here you go, a really sweet streaming virus.
I for one, hope that there isn't just a way to turn this off, but delete it entirely from a running system. Because as of right now, I'm a little more worried about this than anything new from Redmond about automatically updating my systems.
We use all *NIX on the outside anyway, so that doesn't really apply to any sensitive systems ^_^
Well, since you brought it up, this is exactly like a car if you think about it hard enough. Unfortunately, you used the wrong analogy. You used a hardware/hardware (car/parts) analogy, not a hardware/software analogy.
This would actually be dead on like Buying a car from Ford, let's say the Focus. The Focus comes with an ok 4 cylinder engine, that is controlled by a Ford developed and built computer, that is running software, that tells the Focus' engine how it is to control it's fuel injectors.
Now, you don't like the 4 cylinder engine (DVD Burner) in the Focus, it's underpowered and you want to outfit the thing for rally. You search around on line and find the company F-Tech Conversions (OWC). Now F-Tech is a Ford authorized parts reseller, as well as selling parts for a couple of other rally cars.
F-Tech shows you that it's possible to take a Honda V-Tech High Performance engine (external DVD burner) and fit it into the A frame of the Focus.
An engine computer is expensive, any one who has ever blown one will tell you just how expensive they are. To do a full on engine conversion, you will need a the set of instructions to tell the V-Tech engine how to use it's fuel injectors, and that is stored on an EPROM in the Honda computer. (3rd Party DVD burning software)
However, F-Tech also offers you a patch that you plug into the wiring harness to completely realign the Focus' stock computer and force it to work with the new V-Tech engine (DVD Enabler)
Even though it's perfectly legal to modify certain parts of your car, and plug add ons into it, the government does get involved and say you can't do things like remove the catalytic converter (DMCA). Even though it's theoretically possible to get the stock Ford unit to control the Honda engine, do you think for a minute Ford is going to sit idly by while one of their FoMoCo parts resellers is selling full engine conversions to their Focus for another companies engine that lets you use *their* software to control it instead of selling you the Ford SVT High Performance Focus engine? I think not.
They'd likely slap them with all kinds of legal mumbo jumbo.... just like Apple.
Hit
VCD Help
and learn the true power of the dark side.
It's a great little website that has FAQ's and help files on everything from Authoring your digital video with menus, Capturing video from cameras, Converting video from all these formats to all those formats, Ripping a DVD for archival, Editing your video and playing your video on your computer.
Well, I'm not exactly sure what your specific purpose here is, but I know that the
Indianapolis / Marion County Public Library
Has set up little Linux kiosks that talk to their main server for doing things such as performing book searchs by title, author, etc and then taking those searches and adding them to your request database.
If this is all for non-profit type of work you might drop them a line and see if they can get you in touch with how helped them set it all up.
I know that the terminals are relatively dumb, and may even be using some form of
LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project)
because when they reboot they drop directly back to a bare desktop with only icons for the software to do their catalog search. So in essence they are all guest accounts.
Well, yeah, actually. This is *so* worthwhile. You may have had to make do with a *swoons and places his forearm across his forehead* 32x CD-RW, but I've been using my tried and true Sony 8x2x24x CD-RW for ever and a day now.
Just because you bought a drive a month ago and this doesn't pertain to you, doesn't mean that those of us in cyberland that have had CD-R since day one might not go "Hmmm, might finally be time to upgrade."
Just remember, the world does not revolve around *you*
It revolves around *me*..... DUH!
[Disclaimer - (As Always) Any and all views, opinions, out looks, philosophies, words of wisdom, words of brash stupidity, and principles out lined in this post are the belief of the Reverend Eddie W. Booher, Jr. and are not necessarily synonymous with the views of his employer or religion.]
I've been using UNIX for about 18 years? Tried to get off of UNIX once. Withdrawal was hell. All those glittery icons and blue screens of death. I thought I was hallucinating. There wasn't any 12 step programs back then, you see.
So I stayed with UNIX, I needed it. I started working two jobs just to support my habit. I even started pushing it off on kids. I felt so dirty, but it was necessary for me to be able to keep up.
There were flavors! Flavors, man! I needed to taste all of them. Started out with a little SUN, kind of pizza-ish but not bad. IBM was a bit bitter, and the aftertaste was horrible. HP caused me to shake all the time. So I stuck with SUN until someone learned how to fabricate UNIX in a little lab in Europe somewhere.
Linux was born, and I was hooked. I thought I had been bad before, but that was nothing compared to what happened to me next.
I started forcing my outlook on people. They just had to know UNIX. I couldn't stop myself, the more people I hooked, the higher my ranking became.
Then it happened. All those users we used to scoff and laugh at found a new way to manufacture UNIX. They new how to market it better, how to wrap it up in all the shiny buttons and pictures that had turned me back to UNIX so long ago.
They were sucking people in by droves.
So you're saying that because this gentleman has used a Macintosh for 18 years, and has for the most part enjoyed this use, that he is an addict to the Apple platform? I say, thank God for the addicts. They help us to see what is real in the world.
Nah, it wasn't a typo. It's just that the real version is a LucasFilm trademark and may only be used in conjuction with fully sanctioned LucasFilm entities.
By the way, you now owe LucasFilm $345,093 for your use of it is this post. Thank you for playing and have a nice day.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, I bought a new car recently with side impact airbags. I was driving down the interstate last week and *whammo* the passenger side airbag went off. Completely at random.
I know you are being funny here, so I'm not trying to incite some kind of war. However, I used to work as a service line technician for a dealership a few years back, when air bags were still relatively new. Most dealerships, you see, have big metal tables to throw those couple hundred pound transmissions up on and leak oil all over without hurting anything.
We had all kinds of procedures we had to follow, had these anti-static "towels" that we'd wrap around the air bag, etc, etc. That didn't keep some of them going off, though. Whether they weren't wrapped properly, or the early ones were really skittish, who knows at this point. Sounded like guns going off, and if you've never been in an accident (thank the Lord) and witnessed one of these up close, take my word for it. These things are pretty scary.
Luckily, at least while I was with that dealership, no one was hurt by them. Just startled out of our mind ..... one of them caused a fire once, but that's an entirely different story involving an acetalane torch, exhaust work, and a nearby fuel line. So we'll just save that one for another day.
Out of the interests of complete information exchange, I thought I'd post this to the /. readers. Even though someone else has already mentioned it, here is a snippet from a press release.
San Francisco, CA - January 7, 2004 - GarageBand.com, the internet's largest legal source of free MP3 music, and Apple Computer have signed an agreement to share the name "GarageBand." The deal was signed in April 2003 but kept confidential by both parties until now.
Under the terms of the agreement, Apple Computer (Nasdaq:AAPL) pays GarageBand.com for the rights to use the name "GarageBand" for its music-creation software, part of the Apple iLife suite launched this week. GarageBand.com (http://www.garageband.com) will otherwise retain its original rights to use the name for a vast range of products and services.
GarageBand Link to the press release.Which, when you think about it, this makes sense. Apple paid to license the whole "one click technology" even though many people said "Yeah, but it's so obvious, how can it have a patent." Apple likes to be very one sided with respect to their legal department. They send enough cease and desist that they don't want to see one come their way so they just pay for it even if it's something that might be "obviously" no where near the same.
We've been talking about and listening to rants and diatribe and dialog and etc. about Outsourcing lately. Alot of talk is going on now right here about the subject because of the very nature of the question you have asked. Unfortunately, this whole world economy that everyone keeps talking about is here.
As cool as the Linux kernel is, and as interesting as the free software movement might be, it has proven time and time again one very frightening fact. Your developers do not need to be in the same cube, the same room, the same building, state, country or even the same continent. You can code software from around the world, paying salaries as different and diverse as the new world wide employees. Everyone and their brother-in-law knows how to code today. Some of course are real sloppy, or mere script kiddies that know how to tweak here or there. Then there are some that are insane in their brilliance.
In my opinion, with the economy in the U.S. of today, if you have a job offer, you are the lucky one. There are many of us, myself included, who have been forced to take massive pay cuts due to layoffs, mass firings, outsourcing, labor replacement, you name it. The industry is flooded with technical people right now ..... except I've heard that the need for computer oriented auto mechanics is getting ready to explode. But, rumors are rumors.
I read a book once, of which the main point was, a rich man does not work for an employer, he is the employer. (For our female techs ..... rich woman .... she is.) Now obviously, it's probably impossible for everyone in the world to be their own employer. However, there is truth to the statement.
Not that anyone cares, but my mother is an R.N. She works as a nurse and makes a little over 50K a year. My parents are comfortable, but with three sons, college, autos, and a house, my father still works to help with bills. The current economic state of the U.S., not just in technology, but across the board, is in trouble. Just watch the politicians as they run around trying to jump start it.
NAFTA and trade agreements like it, while helping the prices of some of our goods ultimately be cheaper, have caused less of us to have the money to buy the goods in the first place. As I've said before (though I'm not sure how many times on /.) Chevy trucks from Mexico, the Camaro was from Canada, Toyota Tundra from Indiana, Mercedes G Wagen from Georgia (of all places that's where they are moving the plant.) and all points in between. We, as a people on the whole and I'm not trying to attack any one person here, are lazy. Americans are lazy. Hell, I'm lazy. One of the greatest things I've ever seen in this world, however, is the human ability to adapt. We have been Rome for so long. On top of the world and lounging on our bottoms, when suddenly a revolution occurs and many die in a bloody battle.
Our revolution is here, many will perish, true. But in time we will adapt and learn bigger and better ways to do whatever it is we do. Personally, computers are becoming so commodity that it's almost time for the next great thing. Because, necessity is the mother of invention. Right now it is necessary to create more jobs for our country. It's time for invention to be reborn!!
Sorry about the rant, but this question gave me the perfect venue to vent it. Thanks.
This will probably just be viewed as a personal rant, probably because it is. It most certainly isn't my patent pending Bullshit Theory of the Day. However, I know that when certain companies get themselves into the Slashdot news they skulk and troll around to see what people are saying.
So here goes.
A little over a month ago, SUN held a little webinar. You sign up for the seminar, watch the keynote, answer some questions, and they promise me a free copy of Java Desktop.
Even before this promise, as a continuing student, I have contacted SUN sales to inquire about educational discounting, because I'm really wanting to get the software installed on something! Even if it means they aren't going to offer me support. Their last response, it's coming soon.
Now all the Wally Worlders are getting their copies of JDS before mine?! Man, that's just annoying.
And what the heck, while I'm ranting and raving and going to be modded into oblivion anyway, what about a copy of Looking Glass to go along with it? I'm more than happy to be a beta.
Actually, my cell phone does IM too .... so .... Yes, on my way home from work, I could get an IM notification :)
In a linux magazine I read regularly (and I can't remember right now if it is Linux Format which is a UK publication or Linux Journal) they ran an article just a couple months ago about some company in Germany I think that is running what they call something like the "Open Source Music License."
The only reason I bring this up is because in my opinion the concept they are using is pretty cool. *YOU* decide how much you are going to pay for an artists album and then are given access to download it from their web site.
When you are on the payment screen it has these reminds of what percentage of your payment goes directly to the artist (and I seem to remember it's fairly high, something like 30-50% then again, I've slept since then.) So if you think it's only worth a buck, it tells you the artist is getting 50 cents, but if you pay 10 bucks it tells you the artist is getting 5 bucks
I'm trying to give you guys as much information as my swiss cheese brain can remember because I can't remember the URL, but if I remember it later on I'll hunt up the issue I'm talking about and let you know more about it.
May turn out to be an interesting replacement for MP3.com. Just a thought.
Hello everyone, and it's time once again for my patented, and trademarked, Bullshit Theory of the Day!!! Now before we get started, I'd just like to say that the lines of code that make up the Eclipse BTD have been rumored to be in the SCO kernel.
I felt the need to reply to this parent in particular because they bring up that Ford in particular is full of PhD level Engineering types. A recent documentary on the history of Ford made a remark that stuck with me. This statement brought it back full force to be shared with you fine people right now.
Henry Ford, as far as book learning and general scholastic endeavors are concerned, was .... how to put this delicately .... not very bright. It is widely rumored that Henry Ford couldn't even spell the word "Model" in the Ford Model A.
As the documentary put it: "If Henry Ford were to be alive today, and to try to gain employment at Ford Motor Company, he would most likely be refused because he couldn't finish the written application."
However, as with other inventors of our time, it wasn't just that Henry Ford had figured out how to build what was needed to supply the demand, he was a master showman and was able to sale the need for the demand. Remember, at the time, most people thought the horse and buggy could never be replaced. I mean, come on, who needs to be able to travel cross country in comfort?
Which brings us the the BTD!!
You don't need to be a genius to make it big. In fact, it probably just hinders you because you spend all your time fixing the problem and not enough time on what you need to focus on. Selling yourself to those who don't yet know that they need you.
Do yourself a favor and read Carnegie's "How to Make Friends and Influence People." Give yourself confidence in the abilities you already possess. Because believe me, the people I work for would never hire a PhD level anything. The rule of thumb where I work is this ... "If they had enough time on their hands to spend 10 years in college to become a doctorate, they had too much time on their hands and never really learned how the world around them works."
Now, I've gotten flames about this in the past. But no, I won't tell you who I work for or where we're located. Mainly, oddly enough, because I can't. We've got some really odd views on NDA's around here. Apparently since I'm not an actual member of "Sales" I'm not allowed to use our company logo, slogan, etc. *shrugs* I think they're afraid all of the "Geek Friends" I have online will attack us or something. The boss keeps mumbling "Slashdot Effect."
Silly employer, Scripts are for Kiddies.
Anyway, as always, this is all my own two cents, and the opinion, wisdom, nuggets of truth, statements of brash stupidity, and ability to go from 0 - Completely Flamed in 2.1 seconds are of one Reverend Booher and in no way reflects the views of my religion or employer.
Hello friends and planetpeople (A globally PC term akin to countrymen?) It's time once again for Uncle Eclipse's Bullshit Theory of the Day!
At 13:22 June 03, 2003 Mr. Davak asked "Which hardware would you rather buy for a new home linux system?" Which was apparently asked by a *NIX loving friend of his. As a *NIX loving systems admin myself I think now is the time to throw in my 2 cent rant.
But before I can even begin, a question needs to be asked. What is this *NIX loving friend going to be using the machine to do? Because .... I'm using a SUN SPARCstation 5 .... and it's pretty *NIXy
But on to the BTD!! IBM is currently working like mad to get the PowerPC 970 ready for mass production. Apple has a conference slated for this month (oh the giddiness!) Intel and AMD are still trying to figure who can do 64 bits better, and VIA continues to make one heck of a *cold* x86 compatible chip.
What does this all mean for our *NIX loving friends? What can't you run Linux on today?
Linux, as everyone is well aware, was originally designed, coded, fed, raised, and potty trained on an x86 devised system. Put into the Internet central core by some Finnish guy that no one can remember the name of, Linux on x86 is like butter on bread. It just feels *so* good!
For a "Build it Yourself" kind of guy, Linux on an x86 can do no wrong. I personally have a dual Pentium II 300 Mhz system with 128 MB of RAM running Linux as an internal file server for my house ..... which would be pretty huge to all of you if you knew the infinite amounts of Pr0n the thing supplies each of the bedrooms with on a daily basis. It was designed and bred for this very purpose. *NIX serving on an x86 platform.
However, Linux was also built to be fairly portable. The fact that it's very code is available to anyone with the mind to read it guarantees this fact. If an engineer can design a processor to do something, *anything*, there is a geek somewhere that can figure out how to get Linux on it.
Which brings me to my Blue and White G3 (I believe it's a "Yosemite" to the Macifites) and my beloved PowerMac 8500. Ah the love ...... My 8500 has two non Apple NIC's in it along with YellowDog Linux for Mac's. It is *SO* happy to run as a Firewall I can't even begin to explain it. (Trust me, if you use Linux on an 8500 .... get a NIC for it. The Apple NIC is really weird, and I'm not so sure it isn't using something odd on the motherboard. The thing never seems to flow quite right.) So the PowerPC processor also takes to Linux like a duck on water.
And this is what IBM is hoping for. Going back to the IBM PowerPC 970, it is the new "desktop" chip from IBM based off of the Power4 (none of this is new to long time Slashdot patrons.) It is 64 bit and from what little has been heard about it, will be a fairly screaming little chip ..... for Linux.
IBM is going to attempt to enter the *NIX Workstation market. A market long dominated by the likes of my (also) beloved SUN and (to a degree) by SGI. What makes this so interestingly important? Intel builds a processor, and places this processor on the market for the widest possible penetration. Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, BeOS, even OS2 .... all designed *toward* or *around* the processor. IBM has (kind of) reversed this and is designing their processor around the Linux kernel. They are placing huge amounts of R&D money on this chip, why? To give it to Apple and let them run it as a G5?
No! To give it to themselves and use it as an x86 equalizer. Titanicium or whatever Intel's 64 bit chip is called and the Hammer are all new implementations of code by companies that have like 400 years of 32 bit experience. IBM has been using the Power4 for a generation now. They have some of the bugs worked out of it. And now they are working their little butts off to get Linux
Most of the buzz on the PS3 indicates that it will be arriving in 2005. So why come out with a "Super PS2" in 2004 that will do all sorts of cool things"
Hello everyone! Time once again for my Bullshit Theory of the Day!! CAUTION: The following post may contain an enormous amount of information that can not be properly processed by the human brain, and is therefore, false.
Let's use over generalized stereotypical assumptions for todays BTD! The Japanese are an extremely conservative people. They like doing one thing and doing it well, just look at their cartoons! So many of them have invaded our airwaves you'd think every man, woman, and child in Japan was drawing one. How does this lend stock to the new Sony Playstation 2.5 PSX UltraSuperDuper Toaster Oven? They do one thing, so why not do it well.
When the Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) was introduced into the United States (US) Sony still had a huge hit on their hands with the previous generation Sony Playstation (PS1). I don't think they could honestly explain it. All of their numbers indicated that the PS2 was flying off the shelves. However, all their numbers also indicated that the PS1 was flying off the shelves.
In previous console war generations. The manufacturing body has killed off the originating console in preference to the new system. Atari, Nintendo, even Sega. They would introduce the new system, then clearance the old system into oblivion. Since all new systems were not backward compatible (with exception of the 7200) out of the gate or without add on hardware this was a fact of life.
Consumers only have so much money with which to purchase shiny new toys. So the shiny new toys that they purchase are both shiny, and new. The PS2 was the first system in a long while that was built with reverse compatibility in mind. Almost all PS1 games would work with the PS2 hardware without any trouble at all.
What this meant to the bottom line was that people were still purchasing brand new PS1 games at brand new prices. Because they could be used with the PS2 hardware and the PS2 games were very sparse. This is true of all new console hardware launches. The launch games are usually 5 to 10 strong, then it's almost a year before a new rush of great games are available for the system. Sony some how over came this previously unscalable mountain.
However this isn't what confused them the most. The PS1 itself was still selling unreasonably well. (Which is what prompted the retool and revamp of the PS1 hardware.) My brother bought a PS1 the other day and he owns a PS2 ..... he likes that the PS1 is much more portable and can be carried around on trips and such.
Then you have the people like me that really messed the whole numbers game up. Again, new hardware kills old hardware. Games aren't compatible. So what happens is Early Adopting (EA) consumers buy all the shiny new toys, and usually all 5 of the launch titles. Then they are hurting for money because they just laid down $600.00 US. What can they do? They sell their old system of course. Get rid of that 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and sell it to some one who can't possibly afford $600.00 US for maybe $150.00 US along with all the software you had for it and use the money to eat on the next month while your cash reserves rebuild.
But that didn't happen this time. I pretty much *gave* my PS1 away to a family member, because it wasn't worth trying to sell. I wasn't selling a single game with it. I kept all the PS1 games I owned (which was quite a large library) because they worked with the shiny new PS2 I had just bought. Said family member then had to go out and start a whole new library of games (at brand new prices remember) for a system that was last generation. Sony sat and scratched their heads for weeks on this one I'm sure .....
But let's face facts. The PS1 is old .... real old when it comes to console standards. I don't think any
Last week I received this months copy of SysAdmin magazine in the mail. What happened to accompany my magazine in the shrink wrap? None other than Microsoft's Services for UNIX 3.0 which used to be Interix Services. It's possible that this product has the potential to contain code that could be obtained from other sources.
I don't remember much about Interix before Microsoft bought them, but I do remember using a demo copy of the Interix Services package and what it did do was pretty cool. It gave a UNIX functionality layer to the NT system. You could log in via SSH and perform all command line functions that you would find on any *BSD, *Linux box. Including cross compile. I seem to remember the demo package including GCC that had been compiled specifically for this package.
Unfortunately I don't have a single MS box in my current possession to install this on to play with. One of my poor, ailing, FreeBSD boxes might get wiped to play with this for a few weeks.
Since everyone else is throwing out conspiracy theories, I suppose I'll throw my own into the arena. CAUTION the following is frivolous bullshit that has no way to be proven except in my own mind. But isn't that true of most of these theories people have?
Interix starts out as a company to build a UNIX compatibility layer for the NT kernel. What better way than to look at the source that is freely available to decide what road to take. Looking at *BSD and *Linux they find that with a little effort they can write a compatibility layer and run pure *NIX apps right on top of NT. (They even have a XR11 port for this layer) All fun, all native, all fast.
Since this is starting out as an exercise in theoretical mechanics of getting UNIX to operate directly on NT, they borrow some "free" code to figure out how exactly to get it all to fit together. Purely with the intention of yanking all "borrowed" code later should this prove to work as they can afford to.
Their compatibility layer works better than expected, apps can easily cross compile to their pseudo-kernel and anyone that isn't directly in front of the box doesn't know they aren't talking to UNIX. This causes Uncle Bill to take notice. He likes what they are doing, and since his own Services for UNIX is pretty piss poor he does what he does best. Buys the company. (I'm not just an Interix client, I liked them so much I bought the company.)
So now, instead of ripping out all the "borrowed" code that is working so well, the new team, who is partnered with pieces of the old team, continue to develop along side each other, integrating the MS UNIX codebase that was Services for UNIX into the Interix codebase to build SFU 3.0.
SCO comes along and starts the whole lawsuit procedure but isn't giving any examples of code. Uncle Bill, preferring to stay quiet and in control, doesn't know if they need to scrap the project or not. Easiest solution? Buy the rights to the problem. License the technology you've already stolen and improved upon, gaining the legal right to use it, before the originating company realizes what you are doing and comes after you.
MS may have deep pockets, but they aren't bottomless, and I believe the legal battles with Apple taught them one very important lesson. End it quick and as painless as possible, keep the government out of it, because they have a tendency to side with people who may be my enemy (MS almost lost the anti-trust suit before Clinton left office?) So make it go away quietly so as not to draw attention to us.
End Rant ..... just my two cents.
Ok, look. I'm going to have to admit to being a little naive here and .... why is my rear end suddenly getting warmer, please put the flamethrowers down until *after* the post. I don't really understand why so many people are so caught up in complaining about this.
I don't play games, typically, so I'm not your average raving fanatic ready at all times with my tome of useless time line knowledge on the whole of the gaming industry. However, I know that it is big business, and I also know that manufacturers are beginning to look in the direction of the gaming developers as the next level of high line computing.
But did Id software start out, fully formed. Leaping from the bushes, games firmly in boxes hidden beneath trenchcoats ready to make nefarious deals? Psst. Buddy .... need a game? One of the great things about online forums is no one really knows how old anyone else is, until statements like the one I am about to make are made. Then one dates themselves. But, I remember a time back in the days of dinosaurs when we had these little programs called "Shareware."
I seem to remember that the original Wolfenstein 3D was shareware. Wasn't it out before Doom and Quake? The first 3D shooter of the genre? Even though Doom was the biggie, and apparently built modern gaming as we know it. The ol' Wolf was pretty "bad" back then. For all the youngsters, "bad" is a term indicating something was really "rad," "hip," or "cool." Which are all terms to indicate "Good." God I hope "good" is still in Webster's Dictionary.
These games, you see, were on a floppy diskette. You could pick them up all over the place, flea markets, the gas station, the grocery store. I kid you not, you could buy Wolfenstein 3D from my local grocery store. Then there were other true Id favorites. Duke Nukem. Which had three parts, or seperate games, if memory serves. All of them shareware. Written by some really imaginative people in a garage somewhere. All they ever asked for was like $10 - $15 bucks for a game. You mail them a payment, and they send you a code to unlock all of the game, or send you the floppy with the full game already on it.
Don't you think that all of these "High line Gaming Developers who would Shape the industry and our world as we know it" had day jobs? All of them did, I'm sure of it. Even if there day job was coding another project (maybe even another game) They weren't feeding their families on this. They were using it for the exact same thing that I read out of this.
A chance.
Plain and simple. They wanted to be noticed, wanted their software to be used. Wanted their games to be played. And shareware was so much more than games, they had spreadsheet programs, comic book databases, you name it there was a shareware program that could do it. Oh wait .... that is kind of like the GNU/GPL/OpSo software today. Software all written for a chance to get noticed and have the opportunity to do something really really cool. By really imaginative people.
I can't help but read through all the posts that are saying things like "This sucks." or "You suck." or even "You want me to code you something for free so you can make money off of it." and think to myself. How disappointing. No vision in any of them. Not a single imaginative soul in the lot. You don't seem able to see things in the larger perspective. This isn't about working for free. Hell, it can be argued that all of us work for free. It is about attaching *your* name to a project. Giving *your* John Hancock to the world of gaming. Something that Rare and InfoGrams and Sega and hell even Microsoft might notice
This is about screaming I to the world. Well I say I damnit. Crazy script kiddies that don't know how to do anything that doesn't come with instructions. If you can't click next, next, next then you think you can't do it. You have to have it all spelled out for you because you as a world are afraid, you're all terrified of failing. This has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with knowing the whole world is laughing at you. But you know what. Sign me up.
That's right. Sign me up. I don't know a thing about C, or C++. I know bash shell scripting, I'm a UNIX administrator. I know some PERL and a little BASIC. Go on, laugh at me. That's right. I used to code games in BASIC for the Commodore 64. Bring it on. Because I'm not afraid. Whether you think that you can, or that you can not, you are right! And I tell you I can. I'll learn C, I'll learn C++, put my name on the list. Bill it as Ed Booher's Optika World VII. But give me my chance!
Mr. DeVille, I'm ready for my close up.
Well, ok. I just can't bite my tongue on this one. Because even though the AC is poking fun, with Blackadder even which is pretty interesting spin, the original question is valid.
Honestly, how practical are GIANT ROBOTS for waging actual combat?
Those of us who grew up playing BattleTech, and some of us who now play the HeroClix Dark Age game know that giant robots would never be used in actual combat. In combat you want to be as small as you possibly can. The bigger the target, the easier it is to hit.
But the child in all of us still loves the concept of giant robots duking it out in the quiet streets of our home town of Tokyo .... err Indy .... wherever. This is why all of these Japanese Mecha Anime do so well, not just in the U.S., but in Japan, or Korea, or England, or etc ad naseum.
It's also the same reason you can log on to eBay, do a search on "Dark Age" and get back 20+ pages worth of hits. We just love giant robots, man!
Well, actually .... the article *is* pretty clear about if they are including the movie or not. It says .... The final cut of the Evangelion movie--Death(True)2, Air, and Magokoro wo Kimi ni--will also be included. Gainax's newly announced "bonus disc" will contain creditless opening and closing video, the original teaser trailer, and a never-before released live-action edition of the film. All discs will fit in a limited edition art box.
Not only do they include the theatrical movie, that we had to wait so long to get in the states. But they are also be including a "live-action edition of the film." I'm sorry .... What?!
I'm seriously tempted to get this set even with out English subtitles .... just to see what that whole live-action thing is all about. I mean, is it just one episode, or like a test print, or is it a full on movie that they expected to show, finished it, and was like, "Nah that sucks, let's just animate the movie too"??
You know, let's just assume for a minute, that this cult church of loons has succeeded in producing a full clone of an already living human subject. Let's focus on the benefits of this technology.
If we know how to keep the DNA strand together and create a living human embryo from it, then the next step is truly wonderful.
Gene Splicing.
Muhahahahahaahahahahh!!! It's only a matter of time now before I can splice the genes of a calico with a Swedish bikini model and live out all of my anime fantasies!
Yesterday, clones of sheep
Today, clones of humans
Tomorrow, clones of cat chicks!
Meow!
I now return you to your regularly scheduled delusions.
Ok, call me crazy here. Heck, call me eccentric if it makes you feel better. But I don't believe a computer is a good medium on which to give a child games to play.
Consoles are infinitely better for game playing. There are no IRQ conflicts, or resolution errors, or sound card inquiry mishaps. If you own a GameCube, and you buy a GameCube game it typically works, period.
A computer, IMHO, is for work. Writing reports and documentation. Setting up internal PBX systems. Placing more cannon fodder in the path for the OS religious.
With consoles having more and more power with each revision, many are not far behind stand alone PC systems anyway. Also, with systems like the Xbox which are fundamentally a computer system in a box regulated to a specific duty, great amounts of "Only a computer can hope to push the graphics for this copy of 'Quaking under my Halo while my Doomed Sole of Unreal Boots Made for Walking in the Sunshine Part 700'" are being ported to the consoles with the same amount of gameplay as their PC counterparts.
Personally, call me an old fuddy duddy, but I don't think I have a single game installed on any computer I own currently. I do however own a GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 to get my gaming fix.
Kids really appreciate the "drop it in, push the button, play the game" aspect of consoles as well. If you want your kids to learn Linux. Then give them Linux, and don't worry about any of the games. Just place a console next to it and let them have Mario.
As always, this is just my two cents. No one who knows me is likely to agree with me.
What ever happened to the IBM released ATX compliant, socket (PPC) motherboard specs? I used to have a link to them, but I can't find it now.
All I remember is that a couple of years ago, IBM released an open resource platform that was a standard ATX implementation for their (at the time) top of the line PPC604 chips.
The thing looked just like an (Intel) board that we've all come to know and love. It had DIMM sockets, a ZIFF based processor socket, PCI bus, AGP video (though for some reason I seem to remember it *not* having USB).
All of these companies (something like six, which is a lot in this type of industry Mainboard wise, right?) jumped on the build about PowerPC motherboards. "It was like several PC component manufactures cried out in agony, and then were suddenly silenced." Because they all, like, just disappeared off the radar.
Did Apple pull some kind of "Don't you dare let them build those motherboards or we'll walk" type of attitude? Because it's just *really* odd that I didn't see a *single* physical computer get built out of all these announced and proposed PowerPC Linux workstation systems.
Anyone know what happened?
Ahhhhhh,
..... *goodbye*.
See, this is why I use PINE. Who needs all the bells and whistles of Outlook or Netscape anyway?? If I get an email, any email with an HTML header
Simple, plain, non-formatted ASCII text. That is what email is all about! Shell to my mail server, open a Pine session. Oh ... look at that 100 MB file stuck in my inbox. *D*elete! Muhahahahah!
sighs I miss the old days of the internet when we didn't need all this fancy flash driven commerce bull5h!7
It will be nice when they do release some source for this, and make all of the technical documents available. I'd like something to look over about all of this autoconfiguration software.
I mean, am I the only person this scares? Microsoft Outlook had (has) the autoexecute feature that allows virii authors to introduce new and inventive ways to drop rootkits into IIS servers.
Linux has their own little features that have to be guarded against as well. In the basis of security very few of my companies Linux boxes are running any form of FTP. Way too many security alerts, and 90% of the boxes don't need to do file transfers anyway.
Now Apple offers us a really cool and interesting technology that will allow a computer to automatically find a printer. How long before one of these virii authors writes himself an object that allows his PowerBook G4 to introduce itself to a Rendevous network and take control of several machines at once.
Here you go, a really sweet streaming virus.
I for one, hope that there isn't just a way to turn this off, but delete it entirely from a running system. Because as of right now, I'm a little more worried about this than anything new from Redmond about automatically updating my systems.
We use all *NIX on the outside anyway, so that doesn't really apply to any sensitive systems ^_^
Well, since you brought it up, this is exactly like a car if you think about it hard enough. Unfortunately, you used the wrong analogy. You used a hardware/hardware (car/parts) analogy, not a hardware/software analogy.
This would actually be dead on like Buying a car from Ford, let's say the Focus. The Focus comes with an ok 4 cylinder engine, that is controlled by a Ford developed and built computer, that is running software, that tells the Focus' engine how it is to control it's fuel injectors.
Now, you don't like the 4 cylinder engine (DVD Burner) in the Focus, it's underpowered and you want to outfit the thing for rally. You search around on line and find the company F-Tech Conversions (OWC). Now F-Tech is a Ford authorized parts reseller, as well as selling parts for a couple of other rally cars.
F-Tech shows you that it's possible to take a Honda V-Tech High Performance engine (external DVD burner) and fit it into the A frame of the Focus.
An engine computer is expensive, any one who has ever blown one will tell you just how expensive they are. To do a full on engine conversion, you will need a the set of instructions to tell the V-Tech engine how to use it's fuel injectors, and that is stored on an EPROM in the Honda computer. (3rd Party DVD burning software)
However, F-Tech also offers you a patch that you plug into the wiring harness to completely realign the Focus' stock computer and force it to work with the new V-Tech engine (DVD Enabler)
Even though it's perfectly legal to modify certain parts of your car, and plug add ons into it, the government does get involved and say you can't do things like remove the catalytic converter (DMCA). Even though it's theoretically possible to get the stock Ford unit to control the Honda engine, do you think for a minute Ford is going to sit idly by while one of their FoMoCo parts resellers is selling full engine conversions to their Focus for another companies engine that lets you use *their* software to control it instead of selling you the Ford SVT High Performance Focus engine? I think not.
They'd likely slap them with all kinds of legal mumbo jumbo .... just like Apple.
Hit VCD Help and learn the true power of the dark side.
It's a great little website that has FAQ's and help files on everything from Authoring your digital video with menus, Capturing video from cameras, Converting video from all these formats to all those formats, Ripping a DVD for archival, Editing your video and playing your video on your computer.
Well, I'm not exactly sure what your specific purpose here is, but I know that the Indianapolis / Marion County Public Library Has set up little Linux kiosks that talk to their main server for doing things such as performing book searchs by title, author, etc and then taking those searches and adding them to your request database.
If this is all for non-profit type of work you might drop them a line and see if they can get you in touch with how helped them set it all up.
I know that the terminals are relatively dumb, and may even be using some form of LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) because when they reboot they drop directly back to a bare desktop with only icons for the software to do their catalog search. So in essence they are all guest accounts.
Well, yeah, actually. This is *so* worthwhile. You may have had to make do with a *swoons and places his forearm across his forehead* 32x CD-RW, but I've been using my tried and true Sony 8x2x24x CD-RW for ever and a day now.
Just because you bought a drive a month ago and this doesn't pertain to you, doesn't mean that those of us in cyberland that have had CD-R since day one might not go "Hmmm, might finally be time to upgrade."
Just remember, the world does not revolve around *you*
It revolves around *me* ..... DUH!
[Disclaimer - (As Always) Any and all views, opinions, out looks, philosophies, words of wisdom, words of brash stupidity, and principles out lined in this post are the belief of the Reverend Eddie W. Booher, Jr. and are not necessarily synonymous with the views of his employer or religion.]
Slow down!! All you young whipper snappers in such a hurry! Back in my day all we had was a Commodore 64, and we were *thankful* to have it!
My poor Pentium II 333 Mhz just can't keep up
*sigh*
I've been using UNIX for about 18 years? Tried to get off of UNIX once. Withdrawal was hell. All those glittery icons and blue screens of death. I thought I was hallucinating. There wasn't any 12 step programs back then, you see.
So I stayed with UNIX, I needed it. I started working two jobs just to support my habit. I even started pushing it off on kids. I felt so dirty, but it was necessary for me to be able to keep up.
There were flavors! Flavors, man! I needed to taste all of them. Started out with a little SUN, kind of pizza-ish but not bad. IBM was a bit bitter, and the aftertaste was horrible. HP caused me to shake all the time. So I stuck with SUN until someone learned how to fabricate UNIX in a little lab in Europe somewhere.
Linux was born, and I was hooked. I thought I had been bad before, but that was nothing compared to what happened to me next.
I started forcing my outlook on people. They just had to know UNIX. I couldn't stop myself, the more people I hooked, the higher my ranking became.
Then it happened. All those users we used to scoff and laugh at found a new way to manufacture UNIX. They new how to market it better, how to wrap it up in all the shiny buttons and pictures that had turned me back to UNIX so long ago.
They were sucking people in by droves.
So you're saying that because this gentleman has used a Macintosh for 18 years, and has for the most part enjoyed this use, that he is an addict to the Apple platform? I say, thank God for the addicts. They help us to see what is real in the world.
Nah, it wasn't a typo. It's just that the real version is a LucasFilm trademark and may only be used in conjuction with fully sanctioned LucasFilm entities.
By the way, you now owe LucasFilm $345,093 for your use of it is this post. Thank you for playing and have a nice day.