This works fine for package deals like Dell, Compaq, and any other Mallwart brand. What happens if you visit your favorite asian importer and buy all the parts OEM, then assemble it yourself ? How would it be then taxed ?
They couldn't really apply an even surtax to every article, say 1%. Well ok, they _could_ but that would be yet another testament to the depths of their ignorance. On the other hand, if they were to tax only the mobo and monitor, probably the most important parts, then clever people would just import those two items from out-state to avoid the tax.
Then what about those who never throw out their antiques ? Would it be possible to recover the recycling fee after $foo years if you're still in possession of the item (let $foo = 5, for example). I've got a bunch of old Pentiums and even a 486 lying around. They each have a nic, one of them's going into my car soon, the 486 will spend the rest of its life as a linux-based point-of-sale system. Computers may become obsolete for desktop use, but when they're given a specific purpose they can often outlast the purpose itself.
You're quite disciplined. Up here in Canada we chug the beer, then bring the empties back for the oh-so-groovy 10c refund, then use it to buy yet more beer, after which we pass out until the next day to start over again:)
Look up Cemtech. They supply desktop workstations to many gov't mistries and agencies. They take whatever's good on the market, build great stable and _upgradeable_ systems, and sell them at a decent price. A few years ago I had a P2-400, which was surprising built upon an Asus board with quality RAM and a real video card. Later on I ran off with the corporate credit card and built my own Athlon screamer (which is now obsolete of course). Cemtech makes PCs the way I'd make 'em (minus the GeForce GTS goodness and four-drive RAID-0 of course).
Unfortunately my workplace's idiotic people seem to prefer crappy Dells these days, which are just the cheapest components soldered together and thrown into a pretty box. About 1/4 of them have extreme stability problems (shitty power supplies and bad ram), a few of them like to hang during POST!?
Well, up here there is no choice. It is still analog from the cableco to the TV set unless you blow the 50$ for a digital receiver, but the company's uplink is all-digital. Even some of the bigger airwave-broadcast stuff has digital artifacting. Truly sad.
Let me introduce myself: I am Joe Average Technogeek. I've got lots of audio and video toys in my living room, and now also in my car. I've got 5 PCs, of which 2 have video in/out capabilities. I have a boatload of DVD's, as well as every non-bleeding edge console ever made (all but the Gamecube and XBox). I watch about 2 hours of TV per month, and that's only when I catch the Family Guy or some french comedy show. I just don't see the point in spending a month's salary or more on a stupid TV that is full of advertising. There is hardly anything worth watching despite the hundreds of channels. Same thing goes for radio (indy stations excluded).
We spend all our time complaning against MPAA/RIAA and its incestful offspring. Why do we keep buying TV sets and giving in to fads like 500-channel satellite services and this so-called HDTV when the only entity really benefitting from it is the aforementioned cartel ? Crap is crap, it doesn't matter how many channels of it you can choose.
What we need is an alternative; an organized and regulated yet simple network of independent quality broadcasters. Collaborative pirate radio and television. We already have a somewhat free internet we've somehow learned to master, let's spread the concept to traditional media outlets. You want original content ? You create it yourself, then share it with the world. Multiply this times hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of collaborators, and you have what might be the most fascinating window into human intellect and artistry that could ever be conceived. An escape from the monotony of corporate brainwashing and eyeball-raping. Something where anyone and everyone can and does contribute.
I just can't think of any TV show that would be 'better' in such a large format. No, not even pr0n ("look at that HUGE prick!").
Before blowing that kind of money on a big dumb non-upgradeable screen, I think I'd go for an RGB projector instead. At least you can hook that up to just about any image source; play quake on the living room wall!
But TV ? TV is worthless, just a medium to convey more advertising to the weaker minds of society.
If only it was really static... Ever since the cableco's have switched to digital streams (aka MPEG), video degradation seems worse to me. Sure, it's crystal clear most of the time, but when the signal does dip, you don't just get a little snow like in the old days, the whole screen turns into an 8x8 bitmap and takes a second or two to rebuild the image from subsequent differential frames. The old analog stuff wasn't as reliable, but at least when something went wrong with the signal it would just barely degrade for a brief moment.
Having tinkered with DC development, I'd have to tell you that even though there is lots of custom hardware, it is extremely well designed. That Maple bus for the controllers and VMU ports is just great, and the graphics subsystem performs flawlessly once you get used to the tile-based concept and learn to make the most of it.
I wouldn't say it comes anywhere near the PS2's raw power, but at least the DC wasn't nearly as under-utilised as Sony's big black beast. Why ? Sony took a big smelly dump on developers by making graphics programming an exercise in pain. No nice C++ libs, no simplified API, just a raw interface to the chips with very plain documentation. "This is how you draw a triangle strip. You figure out the rest."
That weak game you refer to is Night Trap. Indeed it was rather crappy, the point of the game was to save a bunch of half-naked cunts from having their heads ripped off by a bunch of queer thugs, by trapping said thugs before they got to the victims. It was really just an excuse to show some UK actress in skimpy sleepwear.
I just can't go by without throwing in my two cents. The Sega CD was certainly not an expensive joke. Expensive yes, since we were used to paying 90$ for a console, not 160$. Joke ? hell no. Just look at the buckets of software released for it. I have yet to find an RPG collection that rivals that of the SegaCD. The PSX has lots, but are they of Phantasy Star caliber ? Up here in Canada (Quebec, more specifically), we all had SegaCD's. I had the old clunky one, while my buddies had the newer walkman-sized units. There were hundreds of games for rental, and just as many at the pawn shop just waiting to be rediscovered. I lost count of the hours I spent with Jurassic Park CD, or Eternal Champions:The Dark Side. Most games weren't nearly as shitty as Sewer Shark:)
Geez, to me it was a smart move by Sega. The PVR architecture was a nice quality low-cost solution that was easy to code for. 3Dfx paved the way for 3D acceleration back in the day, but they've essentially sucked since day one because they didn't really have a strategy beyond their product line.
Yes I did own a Voodoo2 before anyone else in town, and I did love being the only guy who could run Quake2 adequately at then-high resolutions, but it was still butt-ugly and somewhat unstable, not to mention expensive and practically unsupported as far as drivers are concerned. They abandoned their products about 48 hours after launch, since they were already counting their money and dreaming up their next unoriginal product. Voodoo1 was an icebreaker, Voodoo2 was a nice upgrade; everything that came after was stillborn and obsolete. I think Sega realized this by the time the DC was nearing the production stage, and pulled out before locking themselves in with a short-sighted video chip manufacturer.
Boycott Blizzard ? No no.. boycott Vivendi! (if that is at all possible).
We need to (at least try to) kick the shiznit out of these media monstrosities. They are the ones who use bribery to turn their fascist ideals into federal laws. They are the ones who squelch out free speech with the megaphone that is capitalism. They are the ones who will ultimately turn everything into a 1984 nightmare, and it's going to be much sooner than we all think unless we wake the fuck up and start defending ourselves against this absolute corruption.
Why should Zophar's store owner turn in all his stock to Nintendo ? Gee, I should sue future shop over DVD burners because I 'represent' Sony and such burners can be used to copy games, maybe I could screw a few free DVDR drives out of the stunt.
I can see Nintendo trying to stop FlashAdvance sales and production, but that shouldn't be done at the expense of resellers who are in their perfectly legal right to sell these devices.
On the other hand, maybe Nintendo should stop and think. Yes, these things can be used for piracy, but they're rather expensive and I wouldn't buy such a device for my 11 year old nephew. It's much cheaper to buy games and trade them when you're done.
If these flash cards were really as popular and 'dangerous' as Nintendo claims, you'd see them in every store, online and real-life. The fact is: they're serving a niche market of rich pirates (?!) or amateur game developers. Just the thought of coding my own games for the GBA, then showing off to friends and inlaws makes my brain tingle. To me, it appears as though NOA is about to shoot itself in the foot, only this time it isn't Nintendo vs Sony or Sega, it's Nintendo vs the people. BAD bad idea.
If this is true, then we'll start seeing controllers with a user-selectable USB ID. Or just some software patch that will disable or work around the checks. On the PSX you can get an unlicensed yet professionally pressed disc that allows you to boot import games and copies without a modchip. Some asian pseudo-piracy company will simply produce a dvd-based XBox mod that will do whatever the users are willing to pay for.
Sure, I'm going to ride the segway my 46-mile one way trip to work, in Minnesota
Well then, either you really like your car or you're just not too bright. Hasn't the concept of 'moving closer to work' ever crossed your mind ? Burning 10$ of gas daily just to get to work, add parking fees and auto wear.. you might as well pay a little more and rent a nice place downtown, no ?
Don't badmouth the Segway just because you're living in the far yonder, beyond its practical range. You could complain just as well about a common bicycle (motorized or not). What it all boils down to is that the problem you mentioned is of your own fault, not the Segway designers'.
I don't quite get it. Why are they making predictions for 2001 when the paper was released in late November ? That's almost saying "In less than 5 weeks, someone smart will have their idea stolen again."
I'm especially alarmed by the claim that we would be able to fire off sound to any specific point in space (space being restricted to one's immediate quarters). Well, I've got my hands into programming and we're not even near that kind of control, the best we have is glorified Dolby 7.1, which can simulate sound _ORIGINATING_ from virtually anywhere within the speakers' area, but not just magically appearing out of nowhere without an apparent source.
Criticism aside, what is the motivation behind these things ? Do they win bets or something ?:) Here goes: I predict that the bank will start stalking me, and as a result I will declare bankruptcy before turning 23. Ok, what do I win ?
Microsoft sucks, Walmart sucks, sucks. Microsoft kills (buys out) smaller companies. Walmart squashes (undersells, overadvertises) smaller stores.
In a sense, Walmart is worse because it leaves the little people without jobs, while Microsoft merely changes where those people's checks are drawn from and where the end result goes. They don't put anyone on welfare and their support clerks aren't nearly as underpaid as Walmart's. When's the last time you had any service in a fricking' superstore ? The best I usually get is "I don't know, stop bugging me I'm minimum wage!"
Return the fricking HP piece of shit for a refund. Buy a better OEM-built PC for half the price, and buy WinXP at the OEM rate if you are so inclined. If you're bright enough to know that you need the recovery CDs, then you probably can get around on your own without HP's customer support, so why bother with them in the first place ?
Wal-Mart'ian computers like HPs and Compaqs are fine for people who can barely tell you what the mouse is, because you just plug-in and go. Essentially, they're for people who don't really need a computer in the first place, they just want to 'download the internet'. If you're not that kind of newbie, you're much better off with a custom-built system. You'll have better quality components (if you choose to), and if something dies, you can replace it yourself in no time. With a brand-name PC, you'd probably have to ship it back to the company, or at least wait a couple days for a fast-talking support agent to knock on your door.
New mouse designs are nice, but why not just fix the existing mice's problems ?
Personally, I'd like to have an analog scroll wheel. Of course that would require enhanced software support. Something precise enough to move pixel-by-pixel. Perhaps with a physical switch to re-enable the click marks, which would be necessary in games which use the wheel to switch weapons or inventory items, etc.
What I'd like to know is how these customs agents knew what the cable was used for ? It's not like 'Console Backups 101' is part of their official training.
What next ? They'll ban SmartMedia cards because they can be used with Gameboy cart emulators ?
Why don't they ban my car because I can use that to carry a crate full of pirated software ?
I tell ya, if they do sign a DMCA-like thing up here in Canada, I'm selling everything I own and buying myself a fucking senator (and/or guns).
Indeed, as long as they do seshual fav0rz to corporate clients, like disabling product activation from Select Edition releases, then the whole thing will be a waste of time and effort since people will just get their hands on the corporate cripple-free edition, which is damn easy if you or someone you know works for a large company or gov't organisation.
Slashdot Mirror
It brings together the world's top bioinformatics programmers one woman and a group of young men
So that's what they call it these days eh ? Biohacking ? Is that the english translation of Bukkake ?
(tasteless, I know.. bah!)
This works fine for package deals like Dell, Compaq, and any other Mallwart brand. What happens if you visit your favorite asian importer and buy all the parts OEM, then assemble it yourself ? How would it be then taxed ?
They couldn't really apply an even surtax to every article, say 1%. Well ok, they _could_ but that would be yet another testament to the depths of their ignorance. On the other hand, if they were to tax only the mobo and monitor, probably the most important parts, then clever people would just import those two items from out-state to avoid the tax.
Then what about those who never throw out their antiques ? Would it be possible to recover the recycling fee after $foo years if you're still in possession of the item (let $foo = 5, for example). I've got a bunch of old Pentiums and even a 486 lying around. They each have a nic, one of them's going into my car soon, the 486 will spend the rest of its life as a linux-based point-of-sale system. Computers may become obsolete for desktop use, but when they're given a specific purpose they can often outlast the purpose itself.
You're quite disciplined. Up here in Canada we chug the beer, then bring the empties back for the oh-so-groovy 10c refund, then use it to buy yet more beer, after which we pass out until the next day to start over again :)
Consumers ultimately get the tab for manufacturers' costs...
Umm DUH! It's called corporate america. The motto is "If the people find out, blame someone else!"
Look up Cemtech. They supply desktop workstations to many gov't mistries and agencies. They take whatever's good on the market, build great stable and _upgradeable_ systems, and sell them at a decent price. A few years ago I had a P2-400, which was surprising built upon an Asus board with quality RAM and a real video card. Later on I ran off with the corporate credit card and built my own Athlon screamer (which is now obsolete of course). Cemtech makes PCs the way I'd make 'em (minus the GeForce GTS goodness and four-drive RAID-0 of course).
Unfortunately my workplace's idiotic people seem to prefer crappy Dells these days, which are just the cheapest components soldered together and thrown into a pretty box. About 1/4 of them have extreme stability problems (shitty power supplies and bad ram), a few of them like to hang during POST!?
Screw Dell. Yay Cemtech!
Well, up here there is no choice. It is still analog from the cableco to the TV set unless you blow the 50$ for a digital receiver, but the company's uplink is all-digital. Even some of the bigger airwave-broadcast stuff has digital artifacting. Truly sad.
Let me introduce myself: I am Joe Average Technogeek. I've got lots of audio and video toys in my living room, and now also in my car. I've got 5 PCs, of which 2 have video in/out capabilities. I have a boatload of DVD's, as well as every non-bleeding edge console ever made (all but the Gamecube and XBox). I watch about 2 hours of TV per month, and that's only when I catch the Family Guy or some french comedy show. I just don't see the point in spending a month's salary or more on a stupid TV that is full of advertising. There is hardly anything worth watching despite the hundreds of channels. Same thing goes for radio (indy stations excluded).
We spend all our time complaning against MPAA/RIAA and its incestful offspring. Why do we keep buying TV sets and giving in to fads like 500-channel satellite services and this so-called HDTV when the only entity really benefitting from it is the aforementioned cartel ? Crap is crap, it doesn't matter how many channels of it you can choose.
What we need is an alternative; an organized and regulated yet simple network of independent quality broadcasters. Collaborative pirate radio and television. We already have a somewhat free internet we've somehow learned to master, let's spread the concept to traditional media outlets. You want original content ? You create it yourself, then share it with the world. Multiply this times hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of collaborators, and you have what might be the most fascinating window into human intellect and artistry that could ever be conceived. An escape from the monotony of corporate brainwashing and eyeball-raping. Something where anyone and everyone can and does contribute.
I just can't think of any TV show that would be 'better' in such a large format. No, not even pr0n ("look at that HUGE prick!").
Before blowing that kind of money on a big dumb non-upgradeable screen, I think I'd go for an RGB projector instead. At least you can hook that up to just about any image source; play quake on the living room wall!
But TV ? TV is worthless, just a medium to convey more advertising to the weaker minds of society.
If only it was really static... Ever since the cableco's have switched to digital streams (aka MPEG), video degradation seems worse to me. Sure, it's crystal clear most of the time, but when the signal does dip, you don't just get a little snow like in the old days, the whole screen turns into an 8x8 bitmap and takes a second or two to rebuild the image from subsequent differential frames. The old analog stuff wasn't as reliable, but at least when something went wrong with the signal it would just barely degrade for a brief moment.
Having tinkered with DC development, I'd have to tell you that even though there is lots of custom hardware, it is extremely well designed. That Maple bus for the controllers and VMU ports is just great, and the graphics subsystem performs flawlessly once you get used to the tile-based concept and learn to make the most of it.
I wouldn't say it comes anywhere near the PS2's raw power, but at least the DC wasn't nearly as under-utilised as Sony's big black beast. Why ? Sony took a big smelly dump on developers by making graphics programming an exercise in pain. No nice C++ libs, no simplified API, just a raw interface to the chips with very plain documentation. "This is how you draw a triangle strip. You figure out the rest."
That weak game you refer to is Night Trap. Indeed it was rather crappy, the point of the game was to save a bunch of half-naked cunts from having their heads ripped off by a bunch of queer thugs, by trapping said thugs before they got to the victims. It was really just an excuse to show some UK actress in skimpy sleepwear.
I just can't go by without throwing in my two cents. The Sega CD was certainly not an expensive joke. Expensive yes, since we were used to paying 90$ for a console, not 160$. Joke ? hell no. Just look at the buckets of software released for it. I have yet to find an RPG collection that rivals that of the SegaCD. The PSX has lots, but are they of Phantasy Star caliber ? Up here in Canada (Quebec, more specifically), we all had SegaCD's. I had the old clunky one, while my buddies had the newer walkman-sized units. There were hundreds of games for rental, and just as many at the pawn shop just waiting to be rediscovered. I lost count of the hours I spent with Jurassic Park CD, or Eternal Champions:The Dark Side. Most games weren't nearly as shitty as Sewer Shark :)
Geez, to me it was a smart move by Sega. The PVR architecture was a nice quality low-cost solution that was easy to code for. 3Dfx paved the way for 3D acceleration back in the day, but they've essentially sucked since day one because they didn't really have a strategy beyond their product line.
Yes I did own a Voodoo2 before anyone else in town, and I did love being the only guy who could run Quake2 adequately at then-high resolutions, but it was still butt-ugly and somewhat unstable, not to mention expensive and practically unsupported as far as drivers are concerned. They abandoned their products about 48 hours after launch, since they were already counting their money and dreaming up their next unoriginal product. Voodoo1 was an icebreaker, Voodoo2 was a nice upgrade; everything that came after was stillborn and obsolete. I think Sega realized this by the time the DC was nearing the production stage, and pulled out before locking themselves in with a short-sighted video chip manufacturer.
Boycott Blizzard ? No no.. boycott Vivendi! (if that is at all possible).
We need to (at least try to) kick the shiznit out of these media monstrosities. They are the ones who use bribery to turn their fascist ideals into federal laws. They are the ones who squelch out free speech with the megaphone that is capitalism. They are the ones who will ultimately turn everything into a 1984 nightmare, and it's going to be much sooner than we all think unless we wake the fuck up and start defending ourselves against this absolute corruption.
Why should Zophar's store owner turn in all his stock to Nintendo ? Gee, I should sue future shop over DVD burners because I 'represent' Sony and such burners can be used to copy games, maybe I could screw a few free DVDR drives out of the stunt.
I can see Nintendo trying to stop FlashAdvance sales and production, but that shouldn't be done at the expense of resellers who are in their perfectly legal right to sell these devices.
On the other hand, maybe Nintendo should stop and think. Yes, these things can be used for piracy, but they're rather expensive and I wouldn't buy such a device for my 11 year old nephew. It's much cheaper to buy games and trade them when you're done.
If these flash cards were really as popular and 'dangerous' as Nintendo claims, you'd see them in every store, online and real-life. The fact is: they're serving a niche market of rich pirates (?!) or amateur game developers. Just the thought of coding my own games for the GBA, then showing off to friends and inlaws makes my brain tingle. To me, it appears as though NOA is about to shoot itself in the foot, only this time it isn't Nintendo vs Sony or Sega, it's Nintendo vs the people. BAD bad idea.
If this is true, then we'll start seeing controllers with a user-selectable USB ID. Or just some software patch that will disable or work around the checks. On the PSX you can get an unlicensed yet professionally pressed disc that allows you to boot import games and copies without a modchip. Some asian pseudo-piracy company will simply produce a dvd-based XBox mod that will do whatever the users are willing to pay for.
"My phone just trashed its code segment. Can I call you back ?"
"Ph33r my l33+ h4x0r 5k!||z wh3n ! p!ng f|00d j00!"
"Could you call back in just two minutes ? I'm in a heated Solitaire round."
Ahh the blasphemy!
Sure, I'm going to ride the segway my 46-mile one way trip to work, in Minnesota
Well then, either you really like your car or you're just not too bright. Hasn't the concept of 'moving closer to work' ever crossed your mind ? Burning 10$ of gas daily just to get to work, add parking fees and auto wear.. you might as well pay a little more and rent a nice place downtown, no ?
Don't badmouth the Segway just because you're living in the far yonder, beyond its practical range. You could complain just as well about a common bicycle (motorized or not). What it all boils down to is that the problem you mentioned is of your own fault, not the Segway designers'.
I don't quite get it. Why are they making predictions for 2001 when the paper was released in late November ? That's almost saying "In less than 5 weeks, someone smart will have their idea stolen again."
:) Here goes: I predict that the bank will start stalking me, and as a result I will declare bankruptcy before turning 23. Ok, what do I win ?
I'm especially alarmed by the claim that we would be able to fire off sound to any specific point in space (space being restricted to one's immediate quarters). Well, I've got my hands into programming and we're not even near that kind of control, the best we have is glorified Dolby 7.1, which can simulate sound _ORIGINATING_ from virtually anywhere within the speakers' area, but not just magically appearing out of nowhere without an apparent source.
Criticism aside, what is the motivation behind these things ? Do they win bets or something ?
Microsoft sucks, Walmart sucks, sucks. Microsoft kills (buys out) smaller companies. Walmart squashes (undersells, overadvertises) smaller stores.
In a sense, Walmart is worse because it leaves the little people without jobs, while Microsoft merely changes where those people's checks are drawn from and where the end result goes. They don't put anyone on welfare and their support clerks aren't nearly as underpaid as Walmart's. When's the last time you had any service in a fricking' superstore ? The best I usually get is "I don't know, stop bugging me I'm minimum wage!"
Return the fricking HP piece of shit for a refund. Buy a better OEM-built PC for half the price, and buy WinXP at the OEM rate if you are so inclined. If you're bright enough to know that you need the recovery CDs, then you probably can get around on your own without HP's customer support, so why bother with them in the first place ?
Wal-Mart'ian computers like HPs and Compaqs are fine for people who can barely tell you what the mouse is, because you just plug-in and go. Essentially, they're for people who don't really need a computer in the first place, they just want to 'download the internet'. If you're not that kind of newbie, you're much better off with a custom-built system. You'll have better quality components (if you choose to), and if something dies, you can replace it yourself in no time. With a brand-name PC, you'd probably have to ship it back to the company, or at least wait a couple days for a fast-talking support agent to knock on your door.
A little mental effort is worth a lot.
New mouse designs are nice, but why not just fix the existing mice's problems ?
Personally, I'd like to have an analog scroll wheel. Of course that would require enhanced software support. Something precise enough to move pixel-by-pixel. Perhaps with a physical switch to re-enable the click marks, which would be necessary in games which use the wheel to switch weapons or inventory items, etc.
If I hold a satanic black mass, will that mean I'll be able to find my girlfriend's lost ring ?
They should make a home occultation device for us absent-minded folks. ("well lookie here, my old PDP-11 I had inadvertently misplaced!" )
What I'd like to know is how these customs agents knew what the cable was used for ? It's not like 'Console Backups 101' is part of their official training.
What next ? They'll ban SmartMedia cards because they can be used with Gameboy cart emulators ?
Why don't they ban my car because I can use that to carry a crate full of pirated software ?
I tell ya, if they do sign a DMCA-like thing up here in Canada, I'm selling everything I own and buying myself a fucking senator (and/or guns).
Indeed, as long as they do seshual fav0rz to corporate clients, like disabling product activation from Select Edition releases, then the whole thing will be a waste of time and effort since people will just get their hands on the corporate cripple-free edition, which is damn easy if you or someone you know works for a large company or gov't organisation.