They probably don't have the money. You can be as pissed off as you like about it, but that won't help you get paid. Ditto bitching to the VC's - won't put money in your pocket.
I suggest you have a little chat with them along the following lines:
1, You've not paid me, I'm a bit pissed off. 2, But fundamentally I like you guys, I like working here, what we are doing has value and I hope to have a long and prosperous working relationship. 3, So can we be honest about this - if you've not got the money to pay me right now, just tell me and we'll work something out. 4, But if push comes to shove, until you pay me for it I own the intellectual property on the stuff I'm doing for you. You have to see this as a risk to the bigger picture, and clearly it's a risk that you'll be wanting to alleviate.
This is a very pertinent point that appears to have been lost on the initiators (and now burger flippers) of the replacement-launch-thingy project.
What they have, right there, is one spectacularly reliable piece of software. I suspect it's significantly more bug free than even the microcode in a modern processor, let alone the companion chips, bios, operating system, and virtual machine for some god awful p-code language (not that I'm naming names here).
The question that should have been asked is "how can we make a sustainable process for making extremely reliable control computers?". How to go about cutting custom silicon, tiny os's etc. How to save the happy tax payer hundreds of millions of dollars by reselling these services to people making nuclear power stations, heart pace makers etc. instead of going shopping for big sun boxes.
Ok, so I'm feeling less bloody minded. Isn't a direct draw surface a directly addressable piece of memory? How about you get some example code for making the internal codecs render to a DD surface (almost certainly COM, if you're unlucky it may have to be via a dispatch interface), play it back a frame at a time and use that as input?
Yeah, I know you want to do it on Windows, but hear me out - I'm doing this at the moment.
For source, a program called transcode will turn just about anything into 4:2:0 YUV. If you don't know what 4:2:0 YUV is, go back to MSDN now.Transcode is at http://www.theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~ostre ich/transcode/ and I think the command line you want is something along the lines of "transcode -i/dev/dvd -y yuv4mpeg,null -o whatever". RTFM. Oh, the output is a format called YUV4MPEG, google for it, and open it in a hex editor, it's kinda obvious.
Make your codec spit out YUV4MPEG too then pipe it into mplayer http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/, with some distinctly non challenging flags... so something like "mycodec | mplayer -vo x11".
No, this is a great idea. My main machine dual boots, Linux for work, 98se for games. Since I use the XFree nv driver, there's a bit chunk of memory in my video card that's doing nothing. Hey, shit, most of my video card is doing nothing but I digress.
So I can swap onto it. Or use it for/tmp or something. Great idea.
BTW, geek challenge: Use opengl2 shader instructions to do something useful other than accelerate games - bit parallel math cruches for compression video, say. Or crack DES3.
Windows, LanManager et al. supported a non-routable protocol called NetBEUI that was designed for the olden days when a network consisted of three computers and a lump of thin ethernet cable. Should work a treat over 802.11 although I suspect it's security leaves a lot to be desired and (like all Windows networking) the network browsing code leaves a lot to be desired.
Linux? Probably, but it'll be a fight getting it up. Mac? Probably not.
They're not the same thing, or at least they shouldn't be. Flash memory is *really* slow, fast random access, but spectacularly slow read/write. And it wears out. A good quality flash drive should be a stack of DRAM, a battery, and some way of backing up the DRAM when the power gets yanked (and vice versa). As you can imagine, this costs a bit and since it has low demand, it is also expensive.
I recently read the first few pages of an introductory Java course taught at a University (too much wind, couldn't go snowboarding). It appeared to be the best introductory coding course ever written. It said, basically:
* Coding is hard. We don't expect everyone to be able to do it. * You will only learn to code if you practice. It's like learning a musical instrument, there are no short cuts. * You will still be able to work in IT if you can't code. * Did we mention hard? Good.
Just about when the arse started falling out of the dotcom thing, I saw inteviews with people saying "No fair, I studied two years to get a job in IT now there aren't any". To you (if this is for real) and to them, I would like to a present a quick "buck you, fuddy" and say that I would, indeed, like fries with that.
Bean bags are the way to go, but washing the covers is a pain. TOP TIP! Buy a bean bag you don't like, but is cheap, and just the cover of one you do like. Put the cover over the whole bag, hence making it dead easy to just remove the cover when it's time to wash the sweaty-arseness from your favourite PS2 beanbag.
WARNING! Requires input of money and concern for personal hygiene.
Noooo! Don't start with Middle, it's wank. The official shit Orbital album. Brown, definately. Insides, definately. Snivilisation, very definately. Then maybe The Altogether (get "The Altogether 5.1" on DVD, it kicks arse), Green, the Orange one with remixes whose name I can't remember and it's at my mate's house. Then the Middle of Nowhere. In that order:)
K&D are cool. Check out "Suzuki" by Tosca (The D in K&D), and G-Stoned by K&D.
Slashdot Mirror
They probably don't have the money. You can be as pissed off as you like about it, but that won't help you get paid. Ditto bitching to the VC's - won't put money in your pocket.
I suggest you have a little chat with them along the following lines:
1, You've not paid me, I'm a bit pissed off.
2, But fundamentally I like you guys, I like working here, what we are doing has value and I hope to have a long and prosperous working relationship.
3, So can we be honest about this - if you've not got the money to pay me right now, just tell me and we'll work something out.
4, But if push comes to shove, until you pay me for it I own the intellectual property on the stuff I'm doing for you. You have to see this as a risk to the bigger picture, and clearly it's a risk that you'll be wanting to alleviate.
Dave
eliminate all the damn facing world's players that NEVER left the roof.
Apart from a quick dash to chuck the redeemer into enemy territory, you mean?
Dave
This is a very pertinent point that appears to have been lost on the initiators (and now burger flippers) of the replacement-launch-thingy project.
What they have, right there, is one spectacularly reliable piece of software. I suspect it's significantly more bug free than even the microcode in a modern processor, let alone the companion chips, bios, operating system, and virtual machine for some god awful p-code language (not that I'm naming names here).
The question that should have been asked is "how can we make a sustainable process for making extremely reliable control computers?". How to go about cutting custom silicon, tiny os's etc. How to save the happy tax payer hundreds of millions of dollars by reselling these services to people making nuclear power stations, heart pace makers etc. instead of going shopping for big sun boxes.
Oh well, reality strikes again.
Dave
No pricing on the site, but the HPUX/Solaris version is tad under five grand. Five grand US, that is.
Yeah, right.
Dave
Ok, so I'm feeling less bloody minded. Isn't a direct draw surface a directly addressable piece of memory? How about you get some example code for making the internal codecs render to a DD surface (almost certainly COM, if you're unlucky it may have to be via a dispatch interface), play it back a frame at a time and use that as input?
Dave
Yeah, I know you want to do it on Windows, but hear me out - I'm doing this at the moment.
e ich/transcode/ and I think the command line you want is something along the lines of "transcode -i /dev/dvd -y yuv4mpeg,null -o whatever". RTFM. Oh, the output is a format called YUV4MPEG, google for it, and open it in a hex editor, it's kinda obvious.
... so something like "mycodec | mplayer -vo x11".
For source, a program called transcode will turn just about anything into 4:2:0 YUV. If you don't know what 4:2:0 YUV is, go back to MSDN now.Transcode is at http://www.theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~ostr
Make your codec spit out YUV4MPEG too then pipe it into mplayer http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/, with some distinctly non challenging flags
Easy peasy, and no shithead API's.
Dave
No, this is a great idea. My main machine dual boots, Linux for work, 98se for games. Since I use the XFree nv driver, there's a bit chunk of memory in my video card that's doing nothing. Hey, shit, most of my video card is doing nothing but I digress.
/tmp or something. Great idea.
So I can swap onto it. Or use it for
BTW, geek challenge: Use opengl2 shader instructions to do something useful other than accelerate games - bit parallel math cruches for compression video, say. Or crack DES3.
Dave
"Fucked" and "Company". Get out.
Dave
We have running water too.
Dave
Windows, LanManager et al. supported a non-routable protocol called NetBEUI that was designed for the olden days when a network consisted of three computers and a lump of thin ethernet cable. Should work a treat over 802.11 although I suspect it's security leaves a lot to be desired and (like all Windows networking) the network browsing code leaves a lot to be desired.
Linux? Probably, but it'll be a fight getting it up. Mac? Probably not.
Dave
They're not the same thing, or at least they shouldn't be. Flash memory is *really* slow, fast random access, but spectacularly slow read/write. And it wears out. A good quality flash drive should be a stack of DRAM, a battery, and some way of backing up the DRAM when the power gets yanked (and vice versa). As you can imagine, this costs a bit and since it has low demand, it is also expensive.
Dave
"pretty but unreliable British automobile"?
Pretentious ford.
Dave
I recently read the first few pages of an introductory Java course taught at a University (too much wind, couldn't go snowboarding). It appeared to be the best introductory coding course ever written. It said, basically:
* Coding is hard. We don't expect everyone to be able to do it.
* You will only learn to code if you practice. It's like learning a musical instrument, there are no short cuts.
* You will still be able to work in IT if you can't code.
* Did we mention hard? Good.
Dave
Fundamental differences in how Intel and HP processors treat binary numbers meant that some software was very difficult to translate
Bad hackers, writing big endian dependent code. Bad! No more jolt!
Dave
Why people worship him, especially now, is beyond me.
Well, ummm, you have a go then. Particularly at the 1996 stuff - you have a P75 and 8Mb, render a 3d texture mapped scene at 20fps.
Dave
Good troll.
Just about when the arse started falling out of the dotcom thing, I saw inteviews with people saying "No fair, I studied two years to get a job in IT now there aren't any". To you (if this is for real) and to them, I would like to a present a quick "buck you, fuddy" and say that I would, indeed, like fries with that.
Dave
If Disney's really doing this, then I expect to see a rash of lawsuits against them as well
I was wondering this, but expect we'll see a rash of suddenly rich farmers if push comes to shove.
Dave
is there any brand of floppies left that doesn't have at least three dead in a box of 10?
No, there bloody isn't. I now maintain a small collection of antique floppy disks for the rare occasions where I want them to work.
Dave
Transcode pulls all sorts of stunts with importing/exporting video.
t re ich/transcode/
t re ich/transcode/html/modules.html
http://www.theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~os
http://www.theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~os
Dave
Bean bags are the way to go, but washing the covers is a pain. TOP TIP! Buy a bean bag you don't like, but is cheap, and just the cover of one you do like. Put the cover over the whole bag, hence making it dead easy to just remove the cover when it's time to wash the sweaty-arseness from your favourite PS2 beanbag.
WARNING! Requires input of money and concern for personal hygiene.
Dave
Noooo! Don't start with Middle, it's wank. The official shit Orbital album. Brown, definately. Insides, definately. Snivilisation, very definately. Then maybe The Altogether (get "The Altogether 5.1" on DVD, it kicks arse), Green, the Orange one with remixes whose name I can't remember and it's at my mate's house. Then the Middle of Nowhere. In that order :)
K&D are cool. Check out "Suzuki" by Tosca (The D in K&D), and G-Stoned by K&D.
Dave
http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT2614444132. html
http://www.soekris.com/
Dave
Another bizarre, ridiculous and completely useless application of the technology.
Which is exactly why it's so cool.
Dave
For thousands I would say you needed to call rackable: http://www.rackable.com/
Dave
Aye, another vote for MPEG2. It's standardised, there are stacks of open source decoders, and there is a large industry built around it.
Probably cut to CD too. Twice, on different makes of blank because these things DO crap out.
Dave