Of course, probably by late November 2005, the Region 1 DVD two-disc set of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith will be available.:) And first week DVD release sales price will probably be well under US$20 at least here in the USA. Small wonder why I don't bother with things like BitTorrent.:)
...Good old Yahoo! is making a major comeback of sorts.
Anyone who's seen Yahoo! in the last two years note they have improved their searches (thanks to the acquisition of Overture), and started up a lot of new features that I find very useful.
Also did Spider-man have something to do with the development, because they decided to steal his font.
I was a bit surprised that the PlayStation 3 moniker on the new box uses EXACTLY the same font as the titles for the Spider-Man movies. Mind you, the Spider-Man movies were done by Columbia Pictures, which is wholy owned by Sony....
I don't agree 100%; the iPod was a clear success from its first launch, but you do have a good point about the overall market exploding with the PC version--and again, that goes to show that Apple tends to do much better with the second and third iterations of a product than with the first.
I think the iPod would have stayed a relatively niche device had Apple stayed with its original design (e.g., no USB 2.0 ports) and not started up the iTunes Music Store. Most PC-based computers lack the IEEE-1394 port, and that would have limited the success of the iPod on the PC side for a long time; it was when the iPod got the USB 2.0 port that the potential market for the iPod rose up dramatically, and that really drove iPod sales.
The Cube was overpriced and didn't have a market, but it led to the Mini, which is kicking ass.
If Apple had just priced the G4 Cube correctly it would have been a hit, because its desktop footprint is really not much bigger than the currently fashionable Mac Mini. And it would have allowed people to buy less-expensive monitors, keyboards and mouse pointers, too.
The iPod was a hit from the jump....
I have to disagree with that. It was only when the version for Windows that included USB 2.0 support came out and the unveiling of the iTunes Music Store that the iPod really took off in popularity.
...Microsoft will offer a security patch for IE fairly quickly outside of their normal security patch release cycle. After all, a couple of months ago they did exactly just that for a serious browser flaw in IE 6.01 SP1.
You folks are forgetting that Microsoft does take the security alerts from Secunia very seriously, as they should be. I expect a patch to be available within 5-8 days from now.
I think one of the very big problems with music radio stations nowadays is that the increasing corporate ownership of radio stations has pretty much killed off a lot of music formats we used to hear on radio. Remember things like classical music? Or easy listening? Or a lot of ethnic music formats? Is it small wonder why XM and Sirius are getting a lot of subscribers because they want to hear a large variety of music?
As for talk radio, it works because it's cheap to syndicate and also talk radio doesn't need the high-quality sound of FM, so an AM station broadcasting a talk show could reach many states from one transmitter. (One thing though: I wonder why Howard Stern is syndicated mostly on FM stations currently, given that his show is mostly talk anyway; that is unless shock talk is primarily an FM phenomenon.)
Well, unless Americans are willing drive cars as small as the new Toyota Aygo that just went on sale in Europe, they want cars with reasonable amount of interior space and reasonable acceleration.
Besides, the current US-market Honda Accord sedan with its 2.4-liter I-4 engine gets 24 mpg city, 34 mpg highway with surprisingly good acceleration, very good for this class of vehicle. And the 2006 model year Accords will get even more horsepower and even better fuel efficiency, thanks to improvements in the i-VTEC variable valve timing system and improvements in the fuel delivery system.
The big problem in the USA is that due to the sprawled-out nature of many surburban areas and the large number of people living in rural areas, trying to get broadband Internet via xDSL, cable modem or T-1/T-3 connections to these folks becomes economically unfeasible; this is unlike Europe, Japan, South Korea or eastern China, where the population density is high enough to hardwire every residence and/or small business for broadband access economically despite the exorbitant construction costs involved.
Now you know what there is so much interest in the USA in 802.16/802.20 WiMax long-range wireless networking. Given that a single WiMax antenna array can support thousands of users almost effectively to line of sight limits, we only need a relatively small number of WiMax antenna arrays to cover an entire metropolitan area and extend coverage out to rural regions; this is VASTLY cheaper than hardwiring every residence and/or small business to support broadband Internet access.
...that the folks at ESA who operate Mars Express brace themselves for people with far-out ideas like Richard C. Hoagland, who's going to do some very strange explanations of the MARSIS radar images when we start receiving these radar images. Given Hoagland's reputation, you know it was happen literally at the drop of a hat. (rolling eyes skyward)
Wi-Fi, WiMax etc etc will do nothing to bridge the digitial divide, and in many cases would just help the digitially mobile increase their advantage.
I have to disagree in terms of 802.16/802.20 WiMax. Unlike WiFi, WiMax can support thousands of users per antenna array, and putting up WiMax antenna arrays is vastly cheaper than hardwiring every residence and business to support xDSL, cable and T-1/T-3 broadband Internet access. With WiMax, we mostly avoid the messy Last Mile connection issue and this will be the method that most rural areas in the USA will get broadband Internet access, too.
Unlike 802.11x-based WiFi, 802.16/802.20-based WiMax can cover a large metropolitan area with only a few antenna arrays. In short, instead of needing many hundreds of WiFi "hotspots" to cover Tempe, AZ, they could cover that same city with 8-10 WiMax antenna arrays.
The only airports currently being planned to upgrade to A380-800 service are:
New York-John F. Kennedy International (business center of the USA) Los Angeles International (business center on the US West Coast and major transpacific gateway) San Francisco International (just only slightly behind Los Angeles as business center and transpacific gateway) Miami International (primary Latin American gateway) Orlando International (huge tourist destination) Washington DC-Dulles International (access to the US Capitol and large number of businesses that serve the US Federal government)
SFO is the first airport ready to serve the A380, thanks to the completely new International Terminal that opened at the end of 2000 and also with recent upgrades to the longest runways and associated taxiways to handle the weight and wider stance of the A380. Yes, the parallel runway setup at SFO is not wide enough to handle an A380 plus a small plane side-by-side, but that restriction is already in place even now with 747 operations. LAX will try to accommodate the A380, but they really need to build a totally new International Terminal that can not only handle the A380 but also more 747 operations! JFK is currently rebuilding their main International terminal to handle the A380, Washington-Dulles (IAD) is right now doing major construction work to accommodate the A380, Miami (MIA) has also started work on rebuilding their terminals so they too can handle the A380.
However, what I do find interesting is that Boeing has gotten a huge surge of orders for the 787 lately, notably the Air Canada and Air India orders.
I think you're forgetting that the reason why Boeing sees a better future for point-to-point service is that here in the USA. We have multiple international gateway airports, which means increasing capacity does not really require flying bigger planes. There are relatively few routes to and from the USA that could use the A380 right now, with only the Sydney-Los Angeles and Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco routes needing something the size of the A380. On the London-New York route, thanks to the Bermuda II agreement, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines all fly multiple flights per day, so the need for a bigger plane on this route is not really that pressing.
However, on international flights to and from Europe and much of Asia, you're pretty much flying into and hub and spoke system given that these countries only have a few airports for international flights. For example, in Germany the primary international gateway airport is at Frankfurt-am-Main, with a slightly lesser role for Munich; Berlin won't become important until their new airport is ready by 2010. In France the primary international gateway is Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. Because there are relatively few international gateway airports in Europe and much of Asia, the result is a mandatory hub and spoke system of flights, and that means for international flights they need as big a plane as possible.
Compare this to the USA. The USA has major interational gateway airports at Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. As such, point-to-point international service is far more viable.
And what makes you think the plane will be flying full?
You try getting a ticket now on a QANTAS flight between Los Angeles and Sydney and the Singapore Airlines flight between Singapore and San Francisco, especially the segment between San Francisco and Hong Kong--good luck! Small wonder why the flights I mentioned will be among the first A380 flights to the USA.
The only issue is whether the capacity will be taken advantage of effectively. While most flights now are booked solid, will the number of passengers be high enough to make the construction of these behemoths profitable?
These routes right now could use the A380-800:
London-Hong Kong London-Singapore London-Tokyo London-Singa pore-Sydney London-Bangkok-Sydney London-Johanne sberg London-Cape Town Paris-Montreal Paris-Tokyo Frankfurt-Tokyo Frankfurt-New York Frankfurt-Los Angeles Frankfurt-San Francisco Singapore-London Singapore-Tokyo Sing apore-Sydney Singapore-Taipei-Los Angeles Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco Seoul-Los Angeles Sydney-London via Singapore/Bangkok Sydney-Los Angeles
Small wonder why among the first A380-800 flights to the USA are flown by QANTAS on the Sydney-Los Angeles route and Singapore Airlines on the Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco route.
Actually, the seat-mile cost of the A380-800 is actually less than a 747-400 because it carries up to 50% more passengers than a 747-400 in a normal three-class configuration.
The primary reason why they're building the A380-800 is because in Europe and much of Asia they have landing-slot restrictions as a noise-abatement measure. As a result, in order to increase passenger capacity the only way to go is to fly bigger planes. Here in the USA, landing-slot restrictions are not that big an issue, so there is far less need to buy bigger planes.
However, expect the A380-800 to start flying to the USA starting in late 2006. QANTAS wants to fly the plane on the Sydney-Los Angeles route, and Singapore Airlines will fly the plane on the Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco route. In 2007, I expect Lufthansa to fly the A380-800 to the USA, probably on the Frankfurt-New York, Frankfurt-Los Angeles and Frankfurt-San Francisco routes.
What's interesting is that Canon has been getting a lot more marketshare lately, thanks to their very wide line of digital still cameras. From the beginner PowerShot A510 all the way up to the professional EOS-1Ds digital SLR, they're all highly-regarded.
Indeed, for an all-in-one digital camera, the PowerShot G6 is probably one of the best-reviewed digital cameras ever, with almost every reviewer strongly lauding its very sharp picture quality. If I had the money I'd buy one myself.:)
Essentially what the new version of Windows XP does is support the full functionality of the x86-64 CPU instructions. Something that is now practical given the large number of sales of machines using the Athlon64/Opteron CPU architecture and recent-production Pentium 4's that also support x86-64 instructions.
While Firefox is great, you have to download and configure third-party programs to get the type of online ad blocking that you get with the AD Hunter feature of Maxthon. AD Hunter has a pre-configured list of blocked providers of online ads, which usually blocks out most of the online ads you see.
If IE 7.0 uses the technology of Maxthon the incentive to use Firefox will drop dramatically for Windows users.
...they need to add in features (in addition to the proper PNG graphics rendering and improved CSS support) like those used in the Maxthon or Avant Browser "shell" programs for IE.
Having used Maxthon since Version 1.12 (they're now up to 1.2.4), it is a very nice program that adds a lot of nifty features that Internet Explorer by itself lacks, particularly tabbed browsing, RSS support, easily changeable "skins," and the very powerful AD Hunter feature that blocks out many ads, pop-ups, Flash animations, and even most ActiveX objects, which results in a very fast browsing experience even on dial-up connections.
But here's the question: what type of RAW format does Canon use for their EOS-1Ds series and EOS-20D cameras? If it's an open format expect sales of Canon digital SLR's to (literally) zoom upward.
I believe that the RAW files that the upcoming Pentax 645 medium-format digital camera will be an open format, too.
I think the biggest thing that is driving the need for dual-core CPU's is the fact that multimedia-editing programs are very CPU-intensive tasks and could benefit from the use of a dual-core CPU.
The Adobe Photoshop CS example you cited is a good one; imagine being able to use both CPU cores to dramatically reduce rendering times for processing high-resolution images in Photoshop CS. Also, video-editing programs such as Adobe Premiere and its competitors could also benefit from a dual-core CPU, given how much CPU time you need to edit videos downloaded from your MiniDV/MicroDV camcorders nowadays.
Slashdot Mirror
Whoops! I should add "will be available."
Of course, probably by late November 2005, the Region 1 DVD two-disc set of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith will be available. :) And first week DVD release sales price will probably be well under US$20 at least here in the USA. Small wonder why I don't bother with things like BitTorrent. :)
...Good old Yahoo! is making a major comeback of sorts.
Anyone who's seen Yahoo! in the last two years note they have improved their searches (thanks to the acquisition of Overture), and started up a lot of new features that I find very useful.
Also did Spider-man have something to do with the development, because they decided to steal his font.
I was a bit surprised that the PlayStation 3 moniker on the new box uses EXACTLY the same font as the titles for the Spider-Man movies. Mind you, the Spider-Man movies were done by Columbia Pictures, which is wholy owned by Sony....
I don't agree 100%; the iPod was a clear success from its first launch, but you do have a good point about the overall market exploding with the PC version--and again, that goes to show that Apple tends to do much better with the second and third iterations of a product than with the first.
I think the iPod would have stayed a relatively niche device had Apple stayed with its original design (e.g., no USB 2.0 ports) and not started up the iTunes Music Store. Most PC-based computers lack the IEEE-1394 port, and that would have limited the success of the iPod on the PC side for a long time; it was when the iPod got the USB 2.0 port that the potential market for the iPod rose up dramatically, and that really drove iPod sales.
The Cube was overpriced and didn't have a market, but it led to the Mini, which is kicking ass.
If Apple had just priced the G4 Cube correctly it would have been a hit, because its desktop footprint is really not much bigger than the currently fashionable Mac Mini. And it would have allowed people to buy less-expensive monitors, keyboards and mouse pointers, too.
The iPod was a hit from the jump....
I have to disagree with that. It was only when the version for Windows that included USB 2.0 support came out and the unveiling of the iTunes Music Store that the iPod really took off in popularity.
...Microsoft will offer a security patch for IE fairly quickly outside of their normal security patch release cycle. After all, a couple of months ago they did exactly just that for a serious browser flaw in IE 6.01 SP1.
You folks are forgetting that Microsoft does take the security alerts from Secunia very seriously, as they should be. I expect a patch to be available within 5-8 days from now.
I think one of the very big problems with music radio stations nowadays is that the increasing corporate ownership of radio stations has pretty much killed off a lot of music formats we used to hear on radio. Remember things like classical music? Or easy listening? Or a lot of ethnic music formats? Is it small wonder why XM and Sirius are getting a lot of subscribers because they want to hear a large variety of music?
As for talk radio, it works because it's cheap to syndicate and also talk radio doesn't need the high-quality sound of FM, so an AM station broadcasting a talk show could reach many states from one transmitter. (One thing though: I wonder why Howard Stern is syndicated mostly on FM stations currently, given that his show is mostly talk anyway; that is unless shock talk is primarily an FM phenomenon.)
Well, unless Americans are willing drive cars as small as the new Toyota Aygo that just went on sale in Europe, they want cars with reasonable amount of interior space and reasonable acceleration.
Besides, the current US-market Honda Accord sedan with its 2.4-liter I-4 engine gets 24 mpg city, 34 mpg highway with surprisingly good acceleration, very good for this class of vehicle. And the 2006 model year Accords will get even more horsepower and even better fuel efficiency, thanks to improvements in the i-VTEC variable valve timing system and improvements in the fuel delivery system.
The big problem in the USA is that due to the sprawled-out nature of many surburban areas and the large number of people living in rural areas, trying to get broadband Internet via xDSL, cable modem or T-1/T-3 connections to these folks becomes economically unfeasible; this is unlike Europe, Japan, South Korea or eastern China, where the population density is high enough to hardwire every residence and/or small business for broadband access economically despite the exorbitant construction costs involved.
Now you know what there is so much interest in the USA in 802.16/802.20 WiMax long-range wireless networking. Given that a single WiMax antenna array can support thousands of users almost effectively to line of sight limits, we only need a relatively small number of WiMax antenna arrays to cover an entire metropolitan area and extend coverage out to rural regions; this is VASTLY cheaper than hardwiring every residence and/or small business to support broadband Internet access.
...that the folks at ESA who operate Mars Express brace themselves for people with far-out ideas like Richard C. Hoagland, who's going to do some very strange explanations of the MARSIS radar images when we start receiving these radar images. Given Hoagland's reputation, you know it was happen literally at the drop of a hat. (rolling eyes skyward)
Wi-Fi, WiMax etc etc will do nothing to bridge the digitial divide, and in many cases would just help the digitially mobile increase their advantage.
I have to disagree in terms of 802.16/802.20 WiMax. Unlike WiFi, WiMax can support thousands of users per antenna array, and putting up WiMax antenna arrays is vastly cheaper than hardwiring every residence and business to support xDSL, cable and T-1/T-3 broadband Internet access. With WiMax, we mostly avoid the messy Last Mile connection issue and this will be the method that most rural areas in the USA will get broadband Internet access, too.
...The rollout of WiMax wireless technology.
Unlike 802.11x-based WiFi, 802.16/802.20-based WiMax can cover a large metropolitan area with only a few antenna arrays. In short, instead of needing many hundreds of WiFi "hotspots" to cover Tempe, AZ, they could cover that same city with 8-10 WiMax antenna arrays.
The only airports currently being planned to upgrade to A380-800 service are:
New York-John F. Kennedy International (business center of the USA)
Los Angeles International (business center on the US West Coast and major transpacific gateway)
San Francisco International (just only slightly behind Los Angeles as business center and transpacific gateway)
Miami International (primary Latin American gateway)
Orlando International (huge tourist destination)
Washington DC-Dulles International (access to the US Capitol and large number of businesses that serve the US Federal government)
SFO is the first airport ready to serve the A380, thanks to the completely new International Terminal that opened at the end of 2000 and also with recent upgrades to the longest runways and associated taxiways to handle the weight and wider stance of the A380. Yes, the parallel runway setup at SFO is not wide enough to handle an A380 plus a small plane side-by-side, but that restriction is already in place even now with 747 operations. LAX will try to accommodate the A380, but they really need to build a totally new International Terminal that can not only handle the A380 but also more 747 operations! JFK is currently rebuilding their main International terminal to handle the A380, Washington-Dulles (IAD) is right now doing major construction work to accommodate the A380, Miami (MIA) has also started work on rebuilding their terminals so they too can handle the A380.
However, what I do find interesting is that Boeing has gotten a huge surge of orders for the 787 lately, notably the Air Canada and Air India orders.
I think you're forgetting that the reason why Boeing sees a better future for point-to-point service is that here in the USA. We have multiple international gateway airports, which means increasing capacity does not really require flying bigger planes. There are relatively few routes to and from the USA that could use the A380 right now, with only the Sydney-Los Angeles and Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco routes needing something the size of the A380. On the London-New York route, thanks to the Bermuda II agreement, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines all fly multiple flights per day, so the need for a bigger plane on this route is not really that pressing.
However, on international flights to and from Europe and much of Asia, you're pretty much flying into and hub and spoke system given that these countries only have a few airports for international flights. For example, in Germany the primary international gateway airport is at Frankfurt-am-Main, with a slightly lesser role for Munich; Berlin won't become important until their new airport is ready by 2010. In France the primary international gateway is Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. Because there are relatively few international gateway airports in Europe and much of Asia, the result is a mandatory hub and spoke system of flights, and that means for international flights they need as big a plane as possible.
Compare this to the USA. The USA has major interational gateway airports at Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. As such, point-to-point international service is far more viable.
And what makes you think the plane will be flying full?
You try getting a ticket now on a QANTAS flight between Los Angeles and Sydney and the Singapore Airlines flight between Singapore and San Francisco, especially the segment between San Francisco and Hong Kong--good luck! Small wonder why the flights I mentioned will be among the first A380 flights to the USA.
The only issue is whether the capacity will be taken advantage of effectively. While most flights now are booked solid, will the number of passengers be high enough to make the construction of these behemoths profitable?
a pore-Sydneye sbergo g apore-Sydney
These routes right now could use the A380-800:
London-Hong Kong
London-Singapore
London-Tokyo
London-Sing
London-Bangkok-Sydney
London-Johann
London-Cape Town
Paris-Montreal
Paris-Tokyo
Frankfurt-Toky
Frankfurt-New York
Frankfurt-Los Angeles
Frankfurt-San Francisco
Singapore-London
Singapore-Tokyo
Sin
Singapore-Taipei-Los Angeles
Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco
Seoul-Los Angeles
Sydney-London via Singapore/Bangkok
Sydney-Los Angeles
Small wonder why among the first A380-800 flights to the USA are flown by QANTAS on the Sydney-Los Angeles route and Singapore Airlines on the Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco route.
Actually, the seat-mile cost of the A380-800 is actually less than a 747-400 because it carries up to 50% more passengers than a 747-400 in a normal three-class configuration.
The primary reason why they're building the A380-800 is because in Europe and much of Asia they have landing-slot restrictions as a noise-abatement measure. As a result, in order to increase passenger capacity the only way to go is to fly bigger planes. Here in the USA, landing-slot restrictions are not that big an issue, so there is far less need to buy bigger planes.
However, expect the A380-800 to start flying to the USA starting in late 2006. QANTAS wants to fly the plane on the Sydney-Los Angeles route, and Singapore Airlines will fly the plane on the Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco route. In 2007, I expect Lufthansa to fly the A380-800 to the USA, probably on the Frankfurt-New York, Frankfurt-Los Angeles and Frankfurt-San Francisco routes.
What's interesting is that Canon has been getting a lot more marketshare lately, thanks to their very wide line of digital still cameras. From the beginner PowerShot A510 all the way up to the professional EOS-1Ds digital SLR, they're all highly-regarded.
:)
Indeed, for an all-in-one digital camera, the PowerShot G6 is probably one of the best-reviewed digital cameras ever, with almost every reviewer strongly lauding its very sharp picture quality. If I had the money I'd buy one myself.
Essentially what the new version of Windows XP does is support the full functionality of the x86-64 CPU instructions. Something that is now practical given the large number of sales of machines using the Athlon64/Opteron CPU architecture and recent-production Pentium 4's that also support x86-64 instructions.
While Firefox is great, you have to download and configure third-party programs to get the type of online ad blocking that you get with the AD Hunter feature of Maxthon. AD Hunter has a pre-configured list of blocked providers of online ads, which usually blocks out most of the online ads you see.
If IE 7.0 uses the technology of Maxthon the incentive to use Firefox will drop dramatically for Windows users.
...they need to add in features (in addition to the proper PNG graphics rendering and improved CSS support) like those used in the Maxthon or Avant Browser "shell" programs for IE.
Having used Maxthon since Version 1.12 (they're now up to 1.2.4), it is a very nice program that adds a lot of nifty features that Internet Explorer by itself lacks, particularly tabbed browsing, RSS support, easily changeable "skins," and the very powerful AD Hunter feature that blocks out many ads, pop-ups, Flash animations, and even most ActiveX objects, which results in a very fast browsing experience even on dial-up connections.
But here's the question: what type of RAW format does Canon use for their EOS-1Ds series and EOS-20D cameras? If it's an open format expect sales of Canon digital SLR's to (literally) zoom upward.
I believe that the RAW files that the upcoming Pentax 645 medium-format digital camera will be an open format, too.
I think the biggest thing that is driving the need for dual-core CPU's is the fact that multimedia-editing programs are very CPU-intensive tasks and could benefit from the use of a dual-core CPU.
The Adobe Photoshop CS example you cited is a good one; imagine being able to use both CPU cores to dramatically reduce rendering times for processing high-resolution images in Photoshop CS. Also, video-editing programs such as Adobe Premiere and its competitors could also benefit from a dual-core CPU, given how much CPU time you need to edit videos downloaded from your MiniDV/MicroDV camcorders nowadays.