Yes, you need to be logged in. The original Xbox it was purchased on is like a hardware key, trumping Live authentication. But if Live is down, you're fucked if all you have is the original account. I know. I upgraded to an Elite. Absolutely no extra content with a price tag works, and none of the non-free XBLA games play anything but trial mode until I log on to Live.
What's worse is that your downloaded content for games now becomes unavailable to all the other accounts on the same box. The mere presence of the purchasing account does not help, whether you're online or not. If you want to bring the console down to the pub for some Rock Band fun, you can't unless they have 'net access.
I don't mind if Windows calls home ONCE, as I install it, to verify.
But WGA is, to use your security tag analogy, as if they leave the tag on after you buy the clothes, and regularly sweep your home to ensure you did not lend out any of your clothes to other people.
But verifying that you have the genuine article on each installation is perfectly agreeable.
I second nLite (and vLite when it matures - expect just as drastic improvements in Vista then). My WinXP installation has all my drivers integrated, standard graphics driver removed, NVidia drivers slipstreamed, and tons of services simply not there, including automatic updates. The memory usage, with Windowblinds (Velvet Waves is not such an eyesore) and Steam running is below 100MB. It takes longer to launch Steam than power on-POST-logged in desktop.
After April, I'd say, because I expect them to ride the Grand Theft Auto IV wave. Here's a desirable, system-selling game. They would probably milk it as usual:)
Somebody's made super-lean versions of XP which can still have things like.NET installed. OK, so they're not really legal, but getting the config for XPower would give you a basis for modifying your own XP to take less space and memory, with slipstreamed *everything*.
If it's any consolation, Thunderbird eats 44MB on 32-bit Ubuntu, and it doesn't even have the extra Outlook-ish stuff Evolution has.
I guess running on Eclipse means you'll have a huge chunk of memory (by embedded programmer standards;) to get it running, with Java and the core engine. But once you start Notes and the C++ or other development plugins, it doesn't increase drastically.
The packagers need to follow the LSB, so the Java.debs on Ubuntu would be covered. At least that's how I think the system works. Ubuntu's standards are close to Debian's.
Seriously, yeah, what IS in all that data? It's just an OS. No devtools or office tools, beyond a calculator and a crappy text editor with font support. Or have they included actual useful software which let you do more than manage your files and play (some of) your music/movies?
I'm probably getting a laptop soon, and it looks like I'll have to get a Vista refund no matter what model I pick from the ones I like. I'll be running XP for a few games and Ubuntu to get my job done.
You actually need an account to set the porn filter on/off permanently. Nothing stops you from figuring out the category from the missing numbers in the torrent category browser.
5TB per month? My host (in Sweden) gives 3.2TB per dedicated server, and that's around $300 per month. Swedish service providers can get you a metric fuckton of bandwidth for cheap.
My grandparents have the same phone number they did 20 years ago. Where I live, we usually bring our phone numbers with us when moving inside the same city.
It's late, and I'm supposed to be in bed..so I browse from bed. Therefore I misread that as "narconomics". Which sounds like a proper word, and it's pretty self-explanatory.
I'm definitely savvy, but I find it easier to drag and drop between $HOME and sftp://mysite.wossname/, especially graphics which I can see as a thumbnail image right there. This makes KDE a more pleasant experience to me than OS X.
I think the time of the dedicated FTP client should end. You may not agree, Apple don't agree, but these über-filemanagers we use now really are the best thing since uncurdled milk. I want all the protocols available in one place.
I've been telling the other webmonkeys at work similar things when they've been a bit too Flash-happy. Use non-HTML/CSS ways when it's for a membership site (requires a login, shouldn't be indexed), but not for any site navigation.
We make a bit of "e-learning" stuff for various companies and organisations, and some training material is a mix of video, sound and quizzes. We find Flash the simplest working solution there. We also push Firefox wherever possible, which I haven't been able to use Silverlight in at all. Plus, the designers have a lot of time invested in learning Flash. They aren't likely to change. We non-Flash folks just need to keep them under observation sometimes;)
Now, if only I could get students to stop making two-state button bars in Flash, rather than CSS buttons with mouseover state change, I would be..less stressed:) ("600k worth of animation?! How the hell did you even make it that big in Flash 8?")
For gaming, the only thing that matters is whether a harddrive is available or not. MS are not allowing developers to use the HD DVD drive for games, and a HDMI port looks exactly like a VGA output to the hardware (same part of the console settings).
Still wish they had harddrives with all models, though.
I see giant jpegs like these all the time from Chinese businesses. It's almost as if they're bragging about their 20+ megapixel cameras (or whatever they're up to):( It doesn't help that they're taken with shitty mobile phone camera lenses, so no matter how big it is, it looks like the insides of an outhouse.
(Rant mode off. We love them for their business, but we hate having the email client hog our bandwidth while downloading their latest product catalogs!)
At least there WAS Serenity in your neighbourhood! Where I live, I think it went straight to DVD (and later the hi-def formats).
However, the time from original cinematic release/first airing of a TV show until it's out on DVD has continually decreased in the past few years. Some movies have as little as two weeks in the cinemas, and the following week you can pick up a decently priced DVD (if you redefine 'pick up' as ordering from Play.com, of course).
This leads to my actual sorta on-topic question: How do the French media companies think a six month wait will work? Will they also put a ban on importing DVDs? Will French film be delayed more than the rest of the world's releases?
I suspect that SneakerNet will be very active in France soon, also:)
DjVu is an image format. It doesn't compare at all. It's a replacement for JPEG. CBR/CBZ archives are RAR/ZIP archives containing any image format you can read in your preferred viewer. If CDisplay/Comix/whatever supports DjVu, the CBR could easily contain that.
Slashdot Mirror
They sure claim they did:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071108-blu-rays-drm-crown-jewel-tarnished-with-crack-of-bd.html
Every six months?! I know people who are on their 5th and 6th console! ;)
Simple math will tell you this can't be often enough
But a self-relicense method IS required. An automatic extension of the
gold account would be nice, too..
Yes, you need to be logged in. The original Xbox it was purchased on is like a
hardware key, trumping Live authentication. But if Live is down, you're fucked
if all you have is the original account. I know. I upgraded to an Elite.
Absolutely no extra content with a price tag works, and none of the non-free
XBLA games play anything but trial mode until I log on to Live.
What's worse is that your downloaded content for games now becomes unavailable
to all the other accounts on the same box. The mere presence of the purchasing
account does not help, whether you're online or not. If you want to bring the
console down to the pub for some Rock Band fun, you can't unless they have
'net access.
I don't mind if Windows calls home ONCE, as I install it, to verify.
But WGA is, to use your security tag analogy, as if they leave the tag on after
you buy the clothes, and regularly sweep your home to ensure you did not lend
out any of your clothes to other people.
But verifying that you have the genuine article on each installation is
perfectly agreeable.
I second nLite (and vLite when it matures - expect just as drastic improvements in Vista then).
My WinXP installation has all my drivers integrated, standard graphics driver removed, NVidia
drivers slipstreamed, and tons of services simply not there, including automatic updates.
The memory usage, with Windowblinds (Velvet Waves is not such an eyesore) and Steam running
is below 100MB. It takes longer to launch Steam than power on-POST-logged in desktop.
After April, I'd say, because I expect them to ride the Grand Theft Auto IV wave. :)
Here's a desirable, system-selling game. They would probably milk it as usual
Somebody's made super-lean versions of XP which can still have things like .NET installed.
OK, so they're not really legal, but getting the config for XPower would give you a basis
for modifying your own XP to take less space and memory, with slipstreamed *everything*.
If it's any consolation, Thunderbird eats 44MB on 32-bit Ubuntu,
;) to get it running, with Java
and it doesn't even have the extra Outlook-ish stuff Evolution has.
I guess running on Eclipse means you'll have a huge chunk of memory
(by embedded programmer standards
and the core engine. But once you start Notes and the C++ or other
development plugins, it doesn't increase drastically.
The packagers need to follow the LSB, so the Java .debs on Ubuntu would be covered.
At least that's how I think the system works. Ubuntu's standards are close to Debian's.
Seriously, yeah, what IS in all that data? It's just an OS.
No devtools or office tools, beyond a calculator and a crappy
text editor with font support. Or have they included actual
useful software which let you do more than manage your files
and play (some of) your music/movies?
I'm probably getting a laptop soon, and it looks like I'll
have to get a Vista refund no matter what model I pick from
the ones I like. I'll be running XP for a few games and
Ubuntu to get my job done.
Don't they count unique IPs when they list those numbers?
You actually need an account to set the porn filter on/off permanently.
Nothing stops you from figuring out the category from the missing numbers
in the torrent category browser.
5TB per month? My host (in Sweden) gives 3.2TB per dedicated server,
and that's around $300 per month. Swedish service providers can get
you a metric fuckton of bandwidth for cheap.
I think they've cleverly avoided announcing a release date. :)
All dates I've seen have been wishful thinking in previews
My grandparents have the same phone number they did 20 years ago.
Where I live, we usually bring our phone numbers with us when moving
inside the same city.
It's late, and I'm supposed to be in bed..so I browse from bed.
Therefore I misread that as "narconomics". Which sounds like a
proper word, and it's pretty self-explanatory.
I'm definitely savvy, but I find it easier to drag and drop between
$HOME and sftp://mysite.wossname/, especially graphics which I can
see as a thumbnail image right there. This makes KDE a more pleasant
experience to me than OS X.
I think the time of the dedicated FTP client should end. You may not
agree, Apple don't agree, but these über-filemanagers we use now
really are the best thing since uncurdled milk. I want all the
protocols available in one place.
Excellent post!
;)
:)
I've been telling the other webmonkeys at work similar things when they've been
a bit too Flash-happy. Use non-HTML/CSS ways when it's for a membership site
(requires a login, shouldn't be indexed), but not for any site navigation.
We make a bit of "e-learning" stuff for various companies and organisations,
and some training material is a mix of video, sound and quizzes. We find Flash
the simplest working solution there. We also push Firefox wherever possible,
which I haven't been able to use Silverlight in at all. Plus, the designers
have a lot of time invested in learning Flash. They aren't likely to change.
We non-Flash folks just need to keep them under observation sometimes
Now, if only I could get students to stop making two-state button bars in Flash,
rather than CSS buttons with mouseover state change, I would be..less stressed
("600k worth of animation?! How the hell did you even make it that big in Flash 8?")
o.O
Hand in your card! Mine doesn't wear off just because I'm unconscious.
For gaming, the only thing that matters is whether a harddrive is available or not.
MS are not allowing developers to use the HD DVD drive for games, and a HDMI port
looks exactly like a VGA output to the hardware (same part of the console settings).
Still wish they had harddrives with all models, though.
There should be a way of switching on natural sort order if you're in Windows. Check out TweakUI.
I see giant jpegs like these all the time from Chinese businesses. It's almost as if they're :(
bragging about their 20+ megapixel cameras (or whatever they're up to)
It doesn't help that they're taken with shitty mobile phone camera lenses, so no matter how
big it is, it looks like the insides of an outhouse.
(Rant mode off. We love them for their business, but we hate having the email client
hog our bandwidth while downloading their latest product catalogs!)
At least there WAS Serenity in your neighbourhood! Where I live, I think it went
:)
straight to DVD (and later the hi-def formats).
However, the time from original cinematic release/first airing of a TV show until
it's out on DVD has continually decreased in the past few years. Some movies have
as little as two weeks in the cinemas, and the following week you can pick up a
decently priced DVD (if you redefine 'pick up' as ordering from Play.com, of course).
This leads to my actual sorta on-topic question: How do the French media companies
think a six month wait will work? Will they also put a ban on importing DVDs?
Will French film be delayed more than the rest of the world's releases?
I suspect that SneakerNet will be very active in France soon, also
DjVu is an image format. It doesn't compare at all. It's a replacement for JPEG.
CBR/CBZ archives are RAR/ZIP archives containing any image format you can read
in your preferred viewer. If CDisplay/Comix/whatever supports DjVu, the CBR could
easily contain that.