without an extra lens how could it be anything but 'digital zoom'
Easy, a higher resolution sensor. I'f you're looking at 1280x960 picture at 640x480 (50%), and you suddenly DIGITAL ZOOM to 1280x960, you didn't need a lense, and you weren't manufacturing new information. No one is saying that this will be ready next year, but in 50 year's time, it will definitely be possible.
This is such an apologist piece. From author's viewpoint, this is a done deal, copy protection is a necessity, and he doesn't address the issue of fair use at all. When I buy my videogames, I rarely install them, instead preferring to find a cracked version first, so I don't have to deal with all of the crap, like unwanted driver installations, that I don't know if I'm getting. The guys at Penny Arcade have said the same as well.
I don't play games without purchasing them (though I did as a student, because I was poor then. If I hadn't then, I probably wouldn't have the gaming drive now that causes me to purchase all of the games I do.), and I'm starting to buy less and less PC games because of the crap I have to deal with. Do you hear that, developers? That is the sound of lost sales.
I bought XIII, which had some protection that caused the graphics and performance to slowly degrade if the CD is not in the drive. Normally, I would have kept that game to play again in the future, but instead I found someone who was looking to buy it, and gave it to them instead. One more lost sale.
Could you imagine if a PS2 game you bought installed updated CD/DVD drivers on the memory card, and it caused problems with reading other discs? How about if you couldn't play games on your PS2 just becaused you owned an Action Replay disc? They can be used to play copied games too, you know. This sort of crap is unacceptable, and developers who realize that are in a unique position to capture extra market share. Sure, writing a crappy game won't get you sales, but with two equally good games, there are definitely people who will choose the one that doesn't treat them like a criminal if they know there is a difference.
Golly gee, this is better than NASCAR! I was starting to get bored at first, but now that we're starting to see some interesting developments in this case, I'm able to stomach the two or three SCO stories every day... Almost...;)
This is a outcome of a functioning open market anyway. The Wall Street Journal online gets the financial types reading news. Slashdot gets us geek types, and The Onion gets everyone else...;)
Oh, come on... Everyone knows that they should just release around 1000 of them this holiday season, with plenty of copies of all the shipping titles, so that, when Christmas comes around, there will be an artificial scarcity, and people will think they are more popular than they are. This will be be a feedback cycle that will keep pushing hardware sales, and allow them to sneak into the market. Hey, it worked with the PS2, didn't it?
My first exposure to Linux was with an Alpha box. A friend of mine had bought a Multia to run as a server for his network. This was just at the time that MP3 was starting to show up (late '95), and he decided to run Linux on it, giving me the grand tour. Because of this, I toyed with Slackware a bit, but since I didn't have enough disk space at the time, I dropped it for a while. A couple of years later, I came into two Multia's by chance, and, remembering the old experience, bought them and installed Linux on them. I've since moved to a full time Linux user, both at home, and at work, and I have DEC/digital to thank for it.
Please remember, being anti-Bush does not make one a Democrat, and let's not let the actions of a few unsavory individuals tarnish the reputation of everyone who wants Bush out of office.
This is just like when the media focused on the SCO/spam worms and claimed that linux evangelists were out to destroy the company.
It's really a magic price point for consumer electronics of all kinds. DVD players hit really wide when the price point hit $99, as well.
$99 is where people who would like one, but don't have any burning desire will pick it up. Also, $99 is price someone will pay for themself, or as a gift for someone really close.
The next price point, $49, is where people who have a vague interest, but don't really care either which way will pick one up. It's a price point that many will pay for a gift for grandma, just so she can have one, too...
The URI in my.sig is not a pyramid scam, but it is a marketing thing. If you're not interested, don't go there. This is very offtopic, but for anyone who wants to know what it is without clicking in my sig, it's a marketing company who gives rewards for getting other people to try out the services of their clients. It's not a scam, as it doesn't require you to put any money into it, and you're not getting paid off by other people. Marketing companies pay money for customer acquisition, and this marketing company has decided on a rather novel approach to getting you to try something. Giving part of the money to you. No software required, nothing installed, and if you're intelligent, you will use a one-off email address, because, even though they promise not to share your info with anyone else, their clients probably haven't (companies like AOL, columbia house, etc.)
For the record, I joined because of someone else's slashdot link, and the company has done nothing but act respectfully. No popups, no spam (so far), no attempts to misrepresent themselves, etc.
Marketing is not going to stop. People want to try to sell you stuff. What's abhorred here is companies who try to take over your computer to make money, even when you haven't given consent, or don't realize what's happening. Also, those companies who try to contact you without your permission, or prior inquiry.
It's like the old detective cliche, follow the money. The problem with both spyware/adware, and spam, is that they're profitable. Beating this stuff with technological measures alone is never going to be easy. If we really want something done, we've got to find ways to make sure these people and/or companies can't make money doing it...
I must admit, I don't have much hope for this... I've worked with quite a few CRM packages, and what most of the large players don't realize is that companies just want something that works.
The standard business model for CRM software is to sell the software from anywhere between $100 Grand and a million (depending on size of installation), spend between six months and a year customizing it to the customer's need (at anywhere from 30% to 50% again in labor), and then charge 15% on top of all that for maintenance every year.
The large CRM packages are all so customizable, they can match any business needs. The downside is that they're so customizable, that they have to be customized before they'll be able to suit any business needs.
This, I must admit, is one place where Microsoft's tools shine through. They targeted at the medium sized business to start. These customers don't want to send six months to a year getting their tools in place, they just want something that works, now, and can be updated later when the need arises.
Given the history of Oracle, and their products (mostly geared toward the insanely expensive crowd), I can't imagine this will be of any real use. At least, at first. It'll be purchased mostly by companies who are already huge Oracle shops to save on integration issues.
BTW - isn't this what they wanted to buy Peoplesoft for? (Or was that a sales tool?)
The joke's on you. Besides being thought of before (as mentioned by another poster), it's how Cray used to store memory for their super computers. There was a wire that went from the output to the input, and the clock was timed to match the duration of the electron transfer through that wire...
that would have halved the price of big-screen televisions by year end
Work on the clear english! It wouldn't have halved the price of televisions by year end, it would have been released by year end, with the expectation that it's use could halve the cost of big-screen televisions at some point.
That's exactly why they have those optional cards that you fill out before with your name, and someone to contact in case of emergency. The ID checks have nothing to do with that.
And hobbyist means what, exactly? Free? Open? If it hits big it'll be turned into a commercial project? The last is the one I suspect. I hate to be a zealot, but I'd be more impressed if it were open-source. I've switched to Linux for 90% of the work that I do (I work on cross-platform software development, so I occasionally have to work on windows and OS X.) As such, I only get really excited when I see exciting new developments or Linux gaming.
To counter-balance my curmudgeonly opinions, this is probably a very good thing in the eyes of fledgeling game developers, as it shows there are paths into gaming other than the standard, so I say bravo ti the team, and (hint, hint) when are we gonna see a Linux port? (Even if it's not open source?)
I've got to say, it looks really tempting. Things don't usually go that far south, but when they do, it's definitely an advantage to have every piece of information you can get. Especially the kernel messages. Unfortunately, until the clietn daemon can be fixed to work with the latest version of netconsole, this is pretty much worthless, because I can imagine few people willing to leave netcat running on a production machine 24-7...
Slashdot Mirror
without an extra lens how could it be anything but 'digital zoom'
Easy, a higher resolution sensor. I'f you're looking at 1280x960 picture at 640x480 (50%), and you suddenly DIGITAL ZOOM to 1280x960, you didn't need a lense, and you weren't manufacturing new information. No one is saying that this will be ready next year, but in 50 year's time, it will definitely be possible.
This is such an apologist piece. From author's viewpoint, this is a done deal, copy protection is a necessity, and he doesn't address the issue of fair use at all. When I buy my videogames, I rarely install them, instead preferring to find a cracked version first, so I don't have to deal with all of the crap, like unwanted driver installations, that I don't know if I'm getting. The guys at Penny Arcade have said the same as well.
I don't play games without purchasing them (though I did as a student, because I was poor then. If I hadn't then, I probably wouldn't have the gaming drive now that causes me to purchase all of the games I do.), and I'm starting to buy less and less PC games because of the crap I have to deal with. Do you hear that, developers? That is the sound of lost sales.
I bought XIII, which had some protection that caused the graphics and performance to slowly degrade if the CD is not in the drive. Normally, I would have kept that game to play again in the future, but instead I found someone who was looking to buy it, and gave it to them instead. One more lost sale.
Could you imagine if a PS2 game you bought installed updated CD/DVD drivers on the memory card, and it caused problems with reading other discs? How about if you couldn't play games on your PS2 just becaused you owned an Action Replay disc? They can be used to play copied games too, you know. This sort of crap is unacceptable, and developers who realize that are in a unique position to capture extra market share. Sure, writing a crappy game won't get you sales, but with two equally good games, there are definitely people who will choose the one that doesn't treat them like a criminal if they know there is a difference.
Golly gee, this is better than NASCAR! I was starting to get bored at first, but now that we're starting to see some interesting developments in this case, I'm able to stomach the two or three SCO stories every day... Almost... ;)
divide rights up based on target demographics
This is a outcome of a functioning open market anyway. The Wall Street Journal online gets the financial types reading news. Slashdot gets us geek types, and The Onion gets everyone else... ;)
Oh, come on... Everyone knows that they should just release around 1000 of them this holiday season, with plenty of copies of all the shipping titles, so that, when Christmas comes around, there will be an artificial scarcity, and people will think they are more popular than they are. This will be be a feedback cycle that will keep pushing hardware sales, and allow them to sneak into the market. Hey, it worked with the PS2, didn't it?
My first exposure to Linux was with an Alpha box. A friend of mine had bought a Multia to run as a server for his network. This was just at the time that MP3 was starting to show up (late '95), and he decided to run Linux on it, giving me the grand tour. Because of this, I toyed with Slackware a bit, but since I didn't have enough disk space at the time, I dropped it for a while. A couple of years later, I came into two Multia's by chance, and, remembering the old experience, bought them and installed Linux on them. I've since moved to a full time Linux user, both at home, and at work, and I have DEC/digital to thank for it.
So long, Alpha, we'll miss you...
Olsen twins make out with each other
Yeah, but one of them would be the fat one... ;)
Yeah, but one of them would be the fat one... ;)
Please remember, being anti-Bush does not make one a Democrat, and let's not let the actions of a few unsavory individuals tarnish the reputation of everyone who wants Bush out of office.
This is just like when the media focused on the SCO/spam worms and claimed that linux evangelists were out to destroy the company.
It's really a magic price point for consumer electronics of all kinds. DVD players hit really wide when the price point hit $99, as well.
$99 is where people who would like one, but don't have any burning desire will pick it up. Also, $99 is price someone will pay for themself, or as a gift for someone really close.
The next price point, $49, is where people who have a vague interest, but don't really care either which way will pick one up. It's a price point that many will pay for a gift for grandma, just so she can have one, too...
The URI in my .sig is not a pyramid scam, but it is a marketing thing. If you're not interested, don't go there. This is very offtopic, but for anyone who wants to know what it is without clicking in my sig, it's a marketing company who gives rewards for getting other people to try out the services of their clients. It's not a scam, as it doesn't require you to put any money into it, and you're not getting paid off by other people. Marketing companies pay money for customer acquisition, and this marketing company has decided on a rather novel approach to getting you to try something. Giving part of the money to you. No software required, nothing installed, and if you're intelligent, you will use a one-off email address, because, even though they promise not to share your info with anyone else, their clients probably haven't (companies like AOL, columbia house, etc.)
For the record, I joined because of someone else's slashdot link, and the company has done nothing but act respectfully. No popups, no spam (so far), no attempts to misrepresent themselves, etc.
Marketing is not going to stop. People want to try to sell you stuff. What's abhorred here is companies who try to take over your computer to make money, even when you haven't given consent, or don't realize what's happening. Also, those companies who try to contact you without your permission, or prior inquiry.
It's like the old detective cliche, follow the money. The problem with both spyware/adware, and spam, is that they're profitable. Beating this stuff with technological measures alone is never going to be easy. If we really want something done, we've got to find ways to make sure these people and/or companies can't make money doing it...
I must admit, I don't have much hope for this... I've worked with quite a few CRM packages, and what most of the large players don't realize is that companies just want something that works.
The standard business model for CRM software is to sell the software from anywhere between $100 Grand and a million (depending on size of installation), spend between six months and a year customizing it to the customer's need (at anywhere from 30% to 50% again in labor), and then charge 15% on top of all that for maintenance every year.
The large CRM packages are all so customizable, they can match any business needs. The downside is that they're so customizable, that they have to be customized before they'll be able to suit any business needs.
This, I must admit, is one place where Microsoft's tools shine through. They targeted at the medium sized business to start. These customers don't want to send six months to a year getting their tools in place, they just want something that works, now, and can be updated later when the need arises.
Given the history of Oracle, and their products (mostly geared toward the insanely expensive crowd), I can't imagine this will be of any real use. At least, at first. It'll be purchased mostly by companies who are already huge Oracle shops to save on integration issues.
BTW - isn't this what they wanted to buy Peoplesoft for? (Or was that a sales tool?)
I know it's not right, but the first thing I think of is a giant, bloated Mario saying, "Get in my belly!" ;)
Humanoid Robot Combat in Japan
Brain hurts... Too... Many... Jokes... Aaarggghhh!
The joke's on you. Besides being thought of before (as mentioned by another poster), it's how Cray used to store memory for their super computers. There was a wire that went from the output to the input, and the clock was timed to match the duration of the electron transfer through that wire...
and it's all perfectly predictable!
While that's one thing Vegas will no longer be taking bets for...
finding their [physics-affected limb] positions may help you understand how they died
Give me Quake physics anyday. Hmmm, yep, I think this teammate got fragged... ;)
And I almost forgot. That half means half the price of manufacturing the TV, not half of the retail price.
that would have halved the price of big-screen televisions by year end
Work on the clear english! It wouldn't have halved the price of televisions by year end, it would have been released by year end, with the expectation that it's use could halve the cost of big-screen televisions at some point.
to help identify the corpses
That's exactly why they have those optional cards that you fill out before with your name, and someone to contact in case of emergency. The ID checks have nothing to do with that.
You can tell Flash programming is beginning to grow up
Quite the contrary. I'll believe it's beginning to grow up when I see a non-Macromedia plugin, and someone's ported DeCSS to it... ;)
And hobbyist means what, exactly? Free? Open? If it hits big it'll be turned into a commercial project? The last is the one I suspect. I hate to be a zealot, but I'd be more impressed if it were open-source. I've switched to Linux for 90% of the work that I do (I work on cross-platform software development, so I occasionally have to work on windows and OS X.) As such, I only get really excited when I see exciting new developments or Linux gaming.
To counter-balance my curmudgeonly opinions, this is probably a very good thing in the eyes of fledgeling game developers, as it shows there are paths into gaming other than the standard, so I say bravo ti the team, and (hint, hint) when are we gonna see a Linux port? (Even if it's not open source?)
You're right, I was typing faster than I was thinking... Oh well, c'est la vie...
I've got to say, it looks really tempting. Things don't usually go that far south, but when they do, it's definitely an advantage to have every piece of information you can get. Especially the kernel messages. Unfortunately, until the clietn daemon can be fixed to work with the latest version of netconsole, this is pretty much worthless, because I can imagine few people willing to leave netcat running on a production machine 24-7...