FIRST OF ALL, AMAZON NEVER TALKED TO NETFLIX. Netflix freaked when they thought Amazon was starting a service here in the states. They weren't. They started that service in the UK. NO TALKS ON ADDING THE SERVICE TO AMAZON. Saying so is just stupid and betrays a complete lack of research.
Let's assume for a second that every potential customer does not know that:
1. Netflix' site is better at what these sites do. 2. Blockbuster edits their movies. 3. Blockbuster has a more limited selection (including no NC-17 movies, last I checked)...etc.
So assuming that, some famous analysts seem to think that Blockbuster can address their debt and benefit from the bricks and mortar infrastructure. I don't see how this is likely.
Problem #1: Many stores are franchises!
Problem #2: The whole point is to provide these DVD's in the mail. So, as I read it, Pachter thinks they will somehow benefit from these bricks and mortar locations fulfilling online orders from their limited invetories??? Yeah, right. Not the stores I've been to.
And to add to this, Blockbuster has no soul.
They do have name recognition, the ability to shoot new releases out quickly, and a lower price point. But no evangelical fans to tell their friends and parents to sign-up and no pretty red envelopes (I won't go into color psychology).
So, there is at least, no clear f---ing winner. And why does there need to be? Are we really that friendly with the idea of monopolies? Jeez.
Intel equipment just works. And guess what? In a production environment, reliability trumps performance.
I have yet to see an AMD server chip OR and AMD workstation chip that doesn't run hot and require an unconventional cooling solution.
Also, when AMD starts making their chipsets, I'll look at it. Until then, AMD can be the realm of the gamer and aficionado for all I care. I won't use my company like a guinea pig. Who are we schilling...err...advocating for, here???
Just a theory, but if I wanted to sell more processors without paying for hype, I'd certainly consider labeling them as slower, starting a little hype about their actual capapbilities, and then reaping the rewards as supplies dwindle and word-of-mouth replaces my advertising.
I also did a comparison, and since I am too goddam busy reviewing copy machines at the moment, I will just weigh in:
Best computer for the job: an intel with a cool-running CPU and fan. Dell 400SC's, if you can find them, are whisper quiet and perfect for the job.
Best card for the job: ATI or Nvidia, yada, yada. The TV card is what you care about. Hauppauge is the rage, and they just came out with a dual-tuner card (ostensibly only for MCE, but if you believe that I've got a Mac to sell you)
Best remote for the job: Snapstream's Firefly. Yeah, $50 is pricy, but, let's admit it: we're trying to make somethings as good as Tivo and this remote is the only one that does it. Remember that awesome Tivo IR blaster? Firefly is RF, baby, and you can edit XML to set up functions.
Best software for the job: BeyondTV. I tried Sage, Myth, even GB-PVR (don't get me started...it's good and free, but man is that shit finicky - release the SOURCE!!!). Anyway, BeyondTV is incredible, bullet-proof, supports two tuners out of the box, integrates with Firefly, and I got it for $50. Almost Tivo.
Best keyboard for the job: Definitely, definitely, the BTC 9019URF. It has a built-in joystick, handles, etc., and killer range.
I don't know about everyone else, but my high school certainly wasn't teaching me properly. Inbetween the daily 'be true to your school' atmosphere and regular assaults on my secular lifestyle, I found that I couldn't take it in the middle of my junior year. I had my father say he was home schooling me and simply walked out of lit class one day. On discovering that none of the colleges I was applying to required a high school diploma, but instead only had course requirements, I took off for community college.
Besides my mental sanity being regained and never having to see that egg-scrutinizing "counselor", again, my GPA shot from 3.3 to a 4.0 and I had much success with the schools. (Princeton (wait listed), Duke (accepted), Vanderbilt (accepted), Whitman (accepted), University of Washington (accepted)).
Nowadays, I know more than one "dropout" like me and we all have experience in the tech sector, many of us making six-figures - some of us without college. If I had to boil it down to one reason: dropping out of high school means taking the time to ask yourself what YOU want to be, rather than being shaped and indoctrinated with little input in your own formative years. The real kicker is that state laws required that I still be allowed to participate in all extracurriculars, so zero harm to my social life, too.;) Just do it.
If there is anything that would be well-received by a great many people, it would be a Tivo. Everyone has (and can operate) a vacuum. Everyone also has and can (for the most part) operate a TV.
I remember visiting Universal Studios to 'talk' to KITT. They would have us wait in line to go sit in the car. They must've had some guy in a booth somewhere, which probably isn't as cool as 700 pre-recorded neat-o responses.
It sure was fun when I asked KITT for his 'auto'graph, though. I told him to use his little analyzer printer. Heh, heh.
Has anyone noticed the sea-change in acceptance of the XBOX? I remember the attitude when it came out was somewhat dismissive of it as a "PC in an ugly box", but now it seems that the ugly duckling is sprouting new feathers. Is it the LIVE experience? Is the PS2 passe? Is it the supposedly better graphics? Are newer games finally more robust than initial offerings? Is it the fact that everyone can hack it? OR is the bxo finally coming into its own as people realize some potential?
This is what Vandana Shiva has been trying to get people to pay attention to for years now. It started with a company patenting varieties of Basmati rice, killing any potential for fast growing species to be used to alleviate hunger... http://www.vshiva.net/
SP2 actually works well and is fairly simple in its implementation of what is at the heart of most incompatibilities: the firewall.
I installed it on our domain, here, and found, that, yes, computers did slow down somewhat. More importantly, I spent a good deal of time unblocking ports and programs. Luckily, I was able to do this in the group policay settings, which took their sweet time propagating, but worked when they did.
What MS did wrong was continue with their philosophy of user as guinea pig. Instead of releasing proper notes on the best way to implement the service pack, or, better yet, using all of that lead time to build in some easy settings for widely used programs (or an API for programs to do the same through the GP), MS makes the user survey the whole network for problems after the fact. (Sound familiar?)
Once it is configured, though, SP2 works well and is a logical piece of infrstructure and a useful one, especially for home users.
Slashdot Mirror
That's capitalism, you say?
...cover my stupid apartment in tin foil. Is this a consipracy by the Reynolds company?
Ummm, are they taking section 215 of a (hopefully) expiring Patriot Act as some kind of hint?
What happened to our library mavens, ardently protecting our rights?
FIRST OF ALL, AMAZON NEVER TALKED TO NETFLIX. Netflix freaked when they thought Amazon was starting a service here in the states. They weren't. They started that service in the UK. NO TALKS ON ADDING THE SERVICE TO AMAZON. Saying so is just stupid and betrays a complete lack of research.
...etc.
Let's assume for a second that every potential customer does not know that:
1. Netflix' site is better at what these sites do.
2. Blockbuster edits their movies.
3. Blockbuster has a more limited selection (including no NC-17 movies, last I checked)
So assuming that, some famous analysts seem to think that Blockbuster can address their debt and benefit from the bricks and mortar infrastructure. I don't see how this is likely.
Problem #1: Many stores are franchises!
Problem #2: The whole point is to provide these DVD's in the mail. So, as I read it, Pachter thinks they will somehow benefit from these bricks and mortar locations fulfilling online orders from their limited invetories??? Yeah, right. Not the stores I've been to.
And to add to this, Blockbuster has no soul.
They do have name recognition, the ability to shoot new releases out quickly, and a lower price point. But no evangelical fans to tell their friends and parents to sign-up and no pretty red envelopes (I won't go into color psychology).
So, there is at least, no clear f---ing winner. And why does there need to be? Are we really that friendly with the idea of monopolies? Jeez.
Intel equipment just works. And guess what? In a production environment, reliability trumps performance.
I have yet to see an AMD server chip OR and AMD workstation chip that doesn't run hot and require an unconventional cooling solution.
Also, when AMD starts making their chipsets, I'll look at it. Until then, AMD can be the realm of the gamer and aficionado for all I care. I won't use my company like a guinea pig. Who are we schilling...err...advocating for, here???
...we won't be seeing any of these displaced kinder-jockeys force-choking people and displaying bad fashion sense in the next twenty years, will we?
Just a theory, but if I wanted to sell more processors without paying for hype, I'd certainly consider labeling them as slower, starting a little hype about their actual capapbilities, and then reaping the rewards as supplies dwindle and word-of-mouth replaces my advertising.
Grad students will always be cheaper...
Sell the super-secret Air Force shuttle on ebay.
That'll buy some bandwidth.
I also did a comparison, and since I am too goddam busy reviewing copy machines at the moment, I will just weigh in:
Best computer for the job: an intel with a cool-running CPU and fan. Dell 400SC's, if you can find them, are whisper quiet and perfect for the job.
Best card for the job: ATI or Nvidia, yada, yada. The TV card is what you care about. Hauppauge is the rage, and they just came out with a dual-tuner card (ostensibly only for MCE, but if you believe that I've got a Mac to sell you)
Best remote for the job: Snapstream's Firefly. Yeah, $50 is pricy, but, let's admit it: we're trying to make somethings as good as Tivo and this remote is the only one that does it. Remember that awesome Tivo IR blaster? Firefly is RF, baby, and you can edit XML to set up functions.
Best software for the job: BeyondTV. I tried Sage, Myth, even GB-PVR (don't get me started...it's good and free, but man is that shit finicky - release the SOURCE!!!). Anyway, BeyondTV is incredible, bullet-proof, supports two tuners out of the box, integrates with Firefly, and I got it for $50. Almost Tivo.
Best keyboard for the job: Definitely, definitely, the BTC 9019URF. It has a built-in joystick, handles, etc., and killer range.
There you have it!
I don't know about everyone else, but my high school certainly wasn't teaching me properly. Inbetween the daily 'be true to your school' atmosphere and regular assaults on my secular lifestyle, I found that I couldn't take it in the middle of my junior year. I had my father say he was home schooling me and simply walked out of lit class one day. On discovering that none of the colleges I was applying to required a high school diploma, but instead only had course requirements, I took off for community college.
Besides my mental sanity being regained and never having to see that egg-scrutinizing "counselor", again, my GPA shot from 3.3 to a 4.0 and I had much success with the schools. (Princeton (wait listed), Duke (accepted), Vanderbilt (accepted), Whitman (accepted), University of Washington (accepted)).
Nowadays, I know more than one "dropout" like me and we all have experience in the tech sector, many of us making six-figures - some of us without college. If I had to boil it down to one reason: dropping out of high school means taking the time to ask yourself what YOU want to be, rather than being shaped and indoctrinated with little input in your own formative years. The real kicker is that state laws required that I still be allowed to participate in all extracurriculars, so zero harm to my social life, too. ;) Just do it.
If there is anything that would be well-received by a great many people, it would be a Tivo. Everyone has (and can operate) a vacuum. Everyone also has and can (for the most part) operate a TV.
Can the same be said for a Tivo?
I remember visiting Universal Studios to 'talk' to KITT. They would have us wait in line to go sit in the car. They must've had some guy in a booth somewhere, which probably isn't as cool as 700 pre-recorded neat-o responses.
It sure was fun when I asked KITT for his 'auto'graph, though. I told him to use his little analyzer printer. Heh, heh.
Otherwise anything and everything would be art, which would require another word for clever renderings that appeal to the human beast.
DEATHTICLE!!!
I know what I'll be screaming out in embarassing glee as the movie starts!
Has anyone noticed the sea-change in acceptance of the XBOX? I remember the attitude when it came out was somewhat dismissive of it as a "PC in an ugly box", but now it seems that the ugly duckling is sprouting new feathers. Is it the LIVE experience? Is the PS2 passe? Is it the supposedly better graphics? Are newer games finally more robust than initial offerings? Is it the fact that everyone can hack it? OR is the bxo finally coming into its own as people realize some potential?
What IS going on?
I think they just used it to write a dialing program in case we wever find a stargate.
I want to play Huygens Probe!
This is what Vandana Shiva has been trying to get people to pay attention to for years now. It started with a company patenting varieties of Basmati rice, killing any potential for fast growing species to be used to alleviate hunger...
http://www.vshiva.net/
As I would have said on my playground in the early 1980's, your logic sucks.
This is simply one of the nicest things I have ever read on Slashdot. This, in fact, is the kind of thing I come to Slashdot to hear about.
SP2 actually works well and is fairly simple in its implementation of what is at the heart of most incompatibilities: the firewall.
I installed it on our domain, here, and found, that, yes, computers did slow down somewhat. More importantly, I spent a good deal of time unblocking ports and programs. Luckily, I was able to do this in the group policay settings, which took their sweet time propagating, but worked when they did.
What MS did wrong was continue with their philosophy of user as guinea pig. Instead of releasing proper notes on the best way to implement the service pack, or, better yet, using all of that lead time to build in some easy settings for widely used programs (or an API for programs to do the same through the GP), MS makes the user survey the whole network for problems after the fact. (Sound familiar?)
Once it is configured, though, SP2 works well and is a logical piece of infrstructure and a useful one, especially for home users.
No hipster dufus would be caught dead with something that ugly. It's about how it looks, after all (snideness more than implied).
Ahh, mediocrity+ detection tool installed.
Friday night surrelity patch applied.
Your evening is protected from mundanity.