Lets also not forget that Betamax WAS the superior product. They lost out on that battle to VHS because sony wouldn't license betamax to adult content providers whereas vhs did....
Actually, at least in the beginning, Betamax DID lose out on one quality measure. And it was an very obvious one, and one that mattered to people who weren't videophiles. Betamax tapes weren't as long.
In HQ recording mode (which in the beginning was the ONLY recording mode, and remained the best mode if you cared at all about recording quality) the standard Betamax blank tape lasted only 90 minutes. The standard VHS blank tape lasted 120 minutes. This was an in a era when movies shown on TV almost invariably lasted 120 minutes. A lot of people bought VHS because that was the tape that let them record a movie off TV for later viewing.
This is, of course, assuming the presence of a head with the brain at the top of the head. Why not, for example, stick all the critical stuff in the middle? Like a big central mass with some number of appendages sticking out. That would have the additional advantage of reducing worst-case neural lag.
Unfortunately, it has the disadvantage of *increasing* neural lag to those organs requiring by far the largest amount of data transfer: the eyes and ears. Which need to be in the head so that they can have the greatest possible range and flexibility. Eyes in the middle of your body won't see as much because they're not as high up, and would be harder to turn to look at something else, and your brain really needs to be right next to the eyes because the volume of data involved.
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
They eliminated pretty much everything but an impact crater. Thus, they think it might be an impact crater.
This only works when you can be reasonably confident you have an exhaustive list of the possibilities. That really doesn't sound very likely in this case; it's too easy for it to be something they didn't think of.
So one day you log on to WOW and that sword that cost 10 gold peices or whatever is now 17?
I have never played WOW, but I suspect this does not happen.
Yes, that's EXACTLY what happens. Less in WoW, as it doesn't really have a player-run economy. In Final Fantasy XI, where you do have a real economy, most mid to high-level equipment (and all high-quality equipment) and a lot of necessary supplies can only be created by player crafting, using resources that must be harvested from the world (monster drops, mining, fishing, harvesting, gardening, and so on). The prices for all this stuff are not set by the NPC merchants because the NPC merchants don't sell them; players do. And the prices change on a daily basis with supply and demand.
For longer that the US has been around, persons of wealth used to buy military commissions which often involved them taking over some pre-established regiment, naval vessel crew, or outpost. Likewise placement in religious orders, bishops and so forth, did not involve working ones way up the hierarchy but buying a position. A seat at the House of lords did not come from merit.
And, if you look around, you will notice that *now*, it's illegal to do any of that. There's a reason why.
Because it would be detrimental to the game. Gold selling is against the rules in WoW, and if Blizzard made it legal and sold gold themselves, it would become a rich man's game. Biggest wallet wins. I believe most people in WoW do *not* buy gold, and would be highly offended if Blizzard sold gold themselves and might leave. I know that if Square-Enix started officially selling gold in my MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI, I would quit, and I'd be a long way from the only one. Fortunately, SE is enforcing anti-gil-seller measures even more severely than Blizzard in WoW--they just did another big mass banning of gil-seller accounts.
[blockquote] Is it a gross simplification to state that using encryption would have rendered both mistakes harmless? [/blockquote]
No where in the story does it say the data on the laptop was *not* encrypted. In fact, the statement by one director that the user would've been granted permission to take the laptop to Ireland if he'd asked makes me believe is *was* encrypted.
plus N64 was delayed so they couldn't develop for it even if they wanted to
While the N64 delays certainly weren't making Square happy, I believe the real deal-breaker was when they decided to drop the CD-ROM. Square's new game (the future Final Fantasy VII) was simply *not* going to fit on a cart. That's what made them jump to the PSX.
Yeah, according to the BBC report, censorship is spreading. According to my state-run newspaper, everything is just fine, and, wait a second, it says here I should just move right along.
How DARE you believe a state-run newspaper over a...state-run...broadcaster...
I'm wondering, is it even legal to give no warranty at all?
Often the law requires some obligations, but mostly they don't require that the vendor specify to the customer what those legal rights are, which is why a lot of warranties (or notifications of lack of a warranty) have legal boilerplate that you may have other rights under law that the warranty (or lack thereof) should not be construed as denying.
It's not a restriction on creation, but on sale. Quite a different thing.
Yes, it is a restriction on sale, not creation, but *that is still a restriction on speech*. Speech is the act of communicating information from one person to another. Therefore, if you interfer with the transfer of information from one person to another, *you are restricting speech*. That is not just my opinion, that is legal fact in US law.
"Used to do"? Got news for ya, typewriters may be going out of fashion, but they ain't gone yet. There's typewriters being made and sold today. You can hop down to your local Staples or Office Depot and get one. Manual typewriters are bit harder to find, but even those are still being made.
How are any of those going to make it into a household without parental consent? All parents need to do is refrain from buying things that may be harmful.
Presumably you're also going to prohibit the kids from ever going to another kid's house. And maintaining some sort of watch on the kid to ensure the kid doesn't go there against your orders.
In more innocent days, the center ring, lower level of the Pentagon contained a mini-shopping mall (called the Concourse) with department stores, a bookseller and other shops, restaurants, a Post Office, and businesses such as dry cleaners. It was also a major transfer point for people taking public transportation (at that time it would've been all buses) into and out of Washington, DC.
And it still is; the Pentagon Metro (subway) station is a stone's throw away from the Pentagon, and Pentagon bus stop just a few more yards further away is, I believe, the single largest commuter bus stop in the DC area; dozens of bus routes stop there. I use it on occasion and used to use it much more frequently. I'm not really old enough to remember when the general public was allowed in to the Concourse without supervision, but I am old enough to remember when everybody moving through the Metro station could look through a passageway right in to the Pentagon, past the guard booths (that entrance has since been walled up). I also remember the sign advertising the daily public tours of the Pentagon there.
On the other hand, a clean electric car that is not polluting is something I can measure by just walking on the street.;)
No, you can't, because walking down the street where the car is tells you nothing about the pollution being created by the power plant that makes the electricity, nor does it tell you anything about the possibly highly toxic metals and/or chemicals used in the battery which will pollute where and when the car is disposed of.
The electric car may be a step towards less pollution. It may not be. To be honest, I suspect it will be. But you're not going to be able to tell just by watching the car. You're going to need to be a little more systematic than that.
3. Linux is still written in C, I believe. As are its drivers, KDE-related programs, Gnome-related programs, and whatnot.
Yes, the Linux kernel is written mostly in C (with a few modules in assembler). KDE, however, is C++. The basic GUI widgets are written as C++ classes. Gnome's widgets are written in C, but API bindings for C++, Java, Perl and Python are part of the project.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, at least in the beginning, Betamax DID lose out on one quality measure. And it was an very obvious one, and one that mattered to people who weren't videophiles. Betamax tapes weren't as long.
In HQ recording mode (which in the beginning was the ONLY recording mode, and remained the best mode if you cared at all about recording quality) the standard Betamax blank tape lasted only 90 minutes. The standard VHS blank tape lasted 120 minutes. This was an in a era when movies shown on TV almost invariably lasted 120 minutes. A lot of people bought VHS because that was the tape that let them record a movie off TV for later viewing.
Chris Mattern
"Here to stay" : "We can't *give* the damn things away"
If it's *liquid* filled, it's not an "air"bag, now is it?
Chris Mattern
Unfortunately, it has the disadvantage of *increasing* neural lag to those organs requiring by far the largest amount of data transfer: the eyes and ears. Which need to be in the head so that they can have the greatest possible range and flexibility. Eyes in the middle of your body won't see as much because they're not as high up, and would be harder to turn to look at something else, and your brain really needs to be right next to the eyes because the volume of data involved.
Chris Mattern
This only works when you can be reasonably confident you have an exhaustive list of the possibilities. That really doesn't sound very likely in this case; it's too easy for it to be something they didn't think of.
Chris Mattern
Yes, that's EXACTLY what happens. Less in WoW, as it doesn't really have a player-run economy. In Final Fantasy XI, where you do have a real economy, most mid to high-level equipment (and all high-quality equipment) and a lot of necessary supplies can only be created by player crafting, using resources that must be harvested from the world (monster drops, mining, fishing, harvesting, gardening, and so on). The prices for all this stuff are not set by the NPC merchants because the NPC merchants don't sell them; players do. And the prices change on a daily basis with supply and demand.
Chris Mattern
And, if you look around, you will notice that *now*, it's illegal to do any of that. There's a reason why.
Chris Mattern
Because it would be detrimental to the game. Gold selling is against the rules in WoW, and if Blizzard made it legal and sold gold themselves, it would become a rich man's game. Biggest wallet wins. I believe most people in WoW do *not* buy gold, and would be highly offended if Blizzard sold gold themselves and might leave. I know that if Square-Enix started officially selling gold in my MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI, I would quit, and I'd be a long way from the only one. Fortunately, SE is enforcing anti-gil-seller measures even more severely than Blizzard in WoW--they just did another big mass banning of gil-seller accounts.
Chris Mattern
What, you didn't like the Human Footman?
"Are you *still* touching me?"
"Don't you have a kingdom to run?"
"Join the army, they said."
"See the *world*, they said."
"I'd rather be sailing."
Or the Orc Ships?
"Yo ho!"
"Who wants to sing?"
"La la la la la..."
Or Goblin Sappers?
"We've got explosives!"
"KABOOOOM!"
"Ohhhh, it's beautyful."
Chris Mattern
Well, I have, because the Library of Congress classification system is much superior. Most serious libraries use it instead of Dewey.
Chris Mattern
You forgot "000 - Vendor Trash" but then nobody uses that section much anyways.
Chris Mattern
[blockquote]
Is it a gross simplification to state that using encryption would have rendered both mistakes harmless?
[/blockquote]
No where in the story does it say the data on the laptop was *not* encrypted. In fact, the statement by one director that the user would've been granted permission to take the laptop to Ireland if he'd asked makes me believe is *was* encrypted.
Chris Mattern
While the N64 delays certainly weren't making Square happy, I believe the real deal-breaker was when they decided to drop the CD-ROM. Square's new game (the future Final Fantasy VII) was simply *not* going to fit on a cart. That's what made them jump to the PSX.
Chris Mattern
...on Microsoft's console.
Except, y'know, for the one that already exists.
Chris Mattern
How DARE you believe a state-run newspaper over a...state-run...broadcaster...
Wait a minute...
Chris Mattern
Damn straight, and may I say I'm glad I live in the Confederate States of America!
Chris Mattern
Often the law requires some obligations, but mostly they don't require that the vendor specify to the customer what those legal rights are, which is why a lot of warranties (or notifications of lack of a warranty) have legal boilerplate that you may have other rights under law that the warranty (or lack thereof) should not be construed as denying.
Chris Mattern
Yes, it is a restriction on sale, not creation, but *that is still a restriction on speech*. Speech is the act of communicating information from one person to another. Therefore, if you interfer with the transfer of information from one person to another, *you are restricting speech*. That is not just my opinion, that is legal fact in US law.
Chris Mattern
"Developers! Developers! Develop--oops, sorry, we've got some big launches coming up. You guys will have to come back later."
Chris Mattern
"Used to do"? Got news for ya, typewriters may be going out of fashion, but they ain't gone yet. There's typewriters being made and sold today. You can hop down to your local Staples or Office Depot and get one. Manual typewriters are bit harder to find, but even those are still being made.
Chris Mattern
Psst, hey. You don't need a computer in order to type papers, you know
Chris Mattern
Presumably you're also going to prohibit the kids from ever going to another kid's house. And maintaining some sort of watch on the kid to ensure the kid doesn't go there against your orders.
Chris Mattern
And it still is; the Pentagon Metro (subway) station is a stone's throw away from the Pentagon, and Pentagon bus stop just a few more yards further away is, I believe, the single largest commuter bus stop in the DC area; dozens of bus routes stop there. I use it on occasion and used to use it much more frequently. I'm not really old enough to remember when the general public was allowed in to the Concourse without supervision, but I am old enough to remember when everybody moving through the Metro station could look through a passageway right in to the Pentagon, past the guard booths (that entrance has since been walled up). I also remember the sign advertising the daily public tours of the Pentagon there.
Chris Mattern
No, you can't, because walking down the street where the car is tells you nothing about the pollution being created by the power plant that makes the electricity, nor does it tell you anything about the possibly highly toxic metals and/or chemicals used in the battery which will pollute where and when the car is disposed of.
The electric car may be a step towards less pollution. It may not be. To be honest, I suspect it will be. But you're not going to be able to tell just by watching the car. You're going to need to be a little more systematic than that.
Chris Mattern
Yes, the Linux kernel is written mostly in C (with a few modules in assembler). KDE, however, is C++. The basic GUI widgets are written as C++ classes. Gnome's widgets are written in C, but API bindings for C++, Java, Perl and Python are part of the project.
Chris Mattern