You're right that they're not quite in the same legal boat as Dmitry, but think back to the case against 2600 Magazine-- they merely printed a method of circumventing a security feature and that landed them in court (though not in jail, thankfully). I don't think CDFreak gives out the source-code to their VXD though, but really they pretty much explained it in the article, they just used plain English instead of C or C++.
In Windows 9x/2000, when you view the properties of a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, there's usually a "Digital Playback" option that bypasses the CD-audio cable connected to your soundcard and grabs the data direct from the CD-- I wonder if SafeAudio works with this, or if people who enabled this 'feature' are in for a surprise when they bring home a SafeAudio "protected" CD...
I've read, time and again, that Sony plans on dropping the price on Playstation 2 to $199 this Christmas shopping season to compete directly with Nintendo-- mind you, this is stuff I've READ (on places like IGN, or inside the pages of EGM), and haven't heard officially announced.
Personally, I'm not buying a Playstation 2 until Sony gets off their high horse and realizes that their system sucks (for the price) and prices it appropriately. I mean, I'd actually LIKE to buy one, but not for no fucking $300.
BEGIN RANT
The morons out there seem to think the fact that it plays DVDs makes it cost $100 more, but let's be real folks; a Pioneer DVD-116 16x/40x DVD-ROM drive is like $52-60 OEM (go to Pricewatch, search for "DVD 116" (no quotes): Playstation 2 uses some 2x/10x (I think it's 10x CD, I really don't remember) POS of a DVD-ROM drive. Now, given that most graphics chipsets have some form of built-in DVD decoding capabilities, about the only thing Sony had to do was make sure there was some software included to access and play DVD's. THIS DOES NOT COST $100.
And this brings me to my gripe against Nintendo-- their proprietary DVD-based media probably costs ever so slightly more to manufacture, as do the drives that read them, than a true-blue DVD-ROM would have. I know Nintendo trumpets the fact that their system is a gaming machine, not a multimedia centerpiece, but for the average teen with a TV in his/her room, having the added bonus of being able to watch DVD's in their gaming system makes for one less thing to buy down the road (or hook up to an already taxed collection of inputs on their TV sets).. IMHO: Nintendo kind of dropped the ball with this, but I'll still buy it simply because I KNOW there'll be some great titles for it.
END RANT
(For the freakish weirdos who are currently in a self-created console holy war/jihad, attempting to figure out which console I'm supporting or planning to buy-- it's both. I can't say for sure which order I plan to buy them in, but at some point I will have in my posession both a Nintendo GameCube and a Sony Playstation 2. About the only system not figuring into my pocketbook strategies right now is an X-Box.)
I searched Google as you suggested, and with or without quotes, I got no hits that had anything on this purported N64 shortage.
The only results I got were comments on the shortage of good games (or games at all) or the use of the word "shortage" to define something in a game (gold shortage, shortage of tracks, etc).
As for you marching into a local store and buying a PS2 two days after launch.. sure ya did, and Astronauts were planting the American flag on Neptune the same day too.
Again, back to track records and "history not repeating itself"-- Nintendo witnessed the backlash Sony got over the PS2 shortages, Nintendo hasn't (in my memory) ever disappointed on release day by coming up short, and this announcement just further solidifies the idea that geee, they're planning for a big holiday showdown with Sony.
So yes, they are doing a whole lot better than Sony did last year, SO FAR. Keep in mind, Sony announced shortages (not huge stockpiles) long before the PS2 launched. Contrast this to Nintendo, who three months to launch, announces that they plan to have PLENTY of systems to go around. To recap: Sony announced a shortage - Nintendo announced a surplus (they'll still sell out, but the long line issue shouldn't exist as it did for PS2 lovers last Winter).
Not really, simply due to Nintendo's track record lately. They announced that they'd ship X millions of Gameboy Advance systems here and in the United States, and lo and behold, they did (to sold out crowds, 90% of the time). I'm sure things could change between now and then, but IMHO I don't think Nintendo is going to risk the same kind of backlash Sony got over the PS2 fiasco.. Kind of like seeing someone get hit at an intersection-- you tend to start looking both ways before crossing.
Don't forget that Square has also hinted time and again that they'd like to develop on Nintendo's new console-- they're the 3rd party developer that really gave Sony the push they needed to beat Nintendo during the last console war; if they head back to the Big N's fold (even if it's just cross-platform, eg: Final Fantasy on GameCube and PS2) it may be enough to put Sony in their place.
(Can ya tell I'm no big Sony fan.. I liked the PSX and still own one, but the PS2 is overpriced...)
Maybe, but L&H's TTS engine functions fine on a normal PC-- no special server hardware required. (Although they do make versions that work with Dialogic hardware, but that's for a very specific market segment.) I don't know whether AT&T's will (or does) function the same, so you may be right. =)
Right, and that's a good idea, except it's not really needed. MP3 (and now Ogg Vorbis, and the new MP3 Pro compression formats) can easily compress voice down to a manageable format, requiring very little processor power to decode and play (vs. TTS, which is pretty processor intensive, more so I'm sure with AT&T's technology). There's also the situation of mixing-- eg: you've got a sound effect going off, or a musical score playing that needs to be mixed with the speech. Between the TTS and the mixing, you're using a lot of CPU power that wouldn't be needed if you played the dialogue from MP3. Now, the right situation for TTS in a game vs. MP3 would be in DYNAMIC text, where you can't have voice actors play a scene out because it changes too often (or, has insertable parameters, eg: "Hello %s, you're looking very handsome this %s" (replace the first %s with the characters name, and the second with the time of day (morning, afternoon, evening))).
There are definately some applications, but I'd prefer they kept to compressed formats except for situations like the one given above. =)
holding off on DDR support for reasons that nobody claims to even try to understand..
I (and others) claim to understand-- they're holding off on DDR because it allows Rambus a chance to take over the memory marketplace. (Wha, can't use DDR with my new whiz-bang Pentium 4? I'd better buy some sleek new RDRAM!)
Do I think this is wise logic though.. no. Articles on The Register (www.theregister.co.uk) have indicated in the past that the higher-ups at Intel are really regretting getting into bed with RMBS, especially after the fiasco in court over their purported claim to SDRAM. In the end, the Pentium 4 will support DDR *and* SDR, it's only a matter of time.
I read the Slashdot story, and really, the linked-to article didn't say much about what I was concerned with EXCEPT about IBM licensing the technology. The only troll here is you.
Hey moron, my post said right at the top that I didn't read the linked-to article, only the Slashdot story itself. (And then I actually DID go read some of it, before coming back to hit Submit.) I guess this makes you as stupid as I am. And yes, I knew IBM licensed alot of their discoveries, but just because they've done so up until now doesn't mean they'll continue if they believe they've got something that's innovative enough that they can implement and market themselves.
Disclaimer: I haven't read the linked-to stories, so take this with a grain of salt.
I hope this technology makes it out into the consumer market and gives LCD panels a run for the money-- my main gripe with LCD panels is that they don't handle non-native resolutions gracefully. But if this is true CRT-like technology, we'll finally have the best of both worlds (great support for various resolutions, and the thin form factor!).
Plus the other applications for this, high-resolution replacements for television sets, can't be beat. The large plasma displays (which admittedly probably look better than a large CRT would) may have fallen in price, but a large CRT with this new technology would probably be cheaper for the masses.
Kudos to IBM, let's just hope that the fact that they've gotten a patent on this tech doesn't keep others from using it.
True. =) Well, the first and last links (the ones that hit SCEA's domain) both have the info I detailed in my message (and the pictures, worth a look-see). They're both in English and use regular fonts, so I'm pretty sure you'll be safe. I haven't checked the other links (one is to another Slashdot Article) though, but then I haven't really had time, plus the SCEA site had all the info I was curious about.
Had you followed the links in the story, you would have received answers to atleast 1-2 of your questions--
On the SCEA website they linked to, there's pictures of the whole kit that was released in Japan, and it included a 40GB HDD, as well as a 10/100 ethernet adapter (as well as USB keyboard and mouse, and a VGA cord). They also showed pictures of the OS running Gimp, and I assume with the 10/100 you could probably run Netscape and browse the web or check e-mail. Thus solidifying itself as a VERY useful alternative to WebTV or other set-top Internet boxes.
Personally I want this thing released in the US, I'd buy a PS2 if they did.
CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno was traveling in Pennsylvania and reported hearing "what sounded like a tremendous sonic boom" through the closed windows of his air conditioned 2001 Chevy Impala. Frank was also snacking on some trail mix at the time, and washing it back with some Lipton "Brisk" Iced Tea. Afterwards, Frank made a stop at the nearest rest area to "leak the lizard", in his own words.
This one irked me VERY recently, when a domain I'd wanted (llight.com) was expired, but Network Solution was showing it as still registered for OVER A MONTH. After a long period of post-expiration registration (with it still showing some lady's name, Linda Light, in the WHOIS data (she'd registered her first name's initial plus last name, which happened to be a common word)), it finally expired and now the WHOIS data shows some company based in Korea as having it registered.
I'd like it if NSI actually just EXPIRED domain names and didn't put them into limbo, as appears to be the case here.
On a side note, and since I'm damned curious, does anyone know what happens to a domain registered through NSI once it expires? How many days does it sit idle, and if they do sell them, where?
Actually, as far as I'm aware, the redistributable has always been available, even since the IE 3.x and 4.x days. I specifically recall this because Microsoft had a developer article on their website showcasing their 'new' "Rebar" control (now known as a CoolBar-- the bar across the top of IE that has 'bands' that you can drag and reposition, and contain the address bar and main toolbar and links). In this article, they discussed using this new control, but elsewhere on the site they maintained downloads of the Common Controls library update for folks that didn't want to install IE 3.x/4.x. I know for a fact they did this with 4.x (if you click on my link in the previous comment, then click on the download link to download 50COMUPD.EXE, you'll see a listing of other COMCTL32.DLL update packages-- one of them is the 4.0 update (basically IE 4.0's COMCTL32.DLL)). They also did this for developers that didn't want to pack around a 25MB install of IE 3.x/4.x for their little 500-1000k apps. =)
About the only thing Microsoft tied into IE was their WebBrowser control, and you're right about IE making itself the default browser without asking.. I won't dispute that, I was mostly just disputing the original authors idea that without IE you were totally helpless with 3rd party programs that used the new common controls. THOSE you CAN acquire elsewhere, without IE bundled along for the ride..
The only thing IE includes with it that I'm aware of is the MSHTML COM libraries, as well as the WebBrowser control (and it goes without saying that you should need IE for this).
Slashdot Mirror
Unless he/she is ass-ugly, in which case you probably couldn't sell his/her image to anyone but the fetish peddlers.
It's really too bad I can't use my mod points on this (yeah, I know why).. someone should mod this up if they see it; +1 Funny. =)
You're right that they're not quite in the same legal boat as Dmitry, but think back to the case against 2600 Magazine-- they merely printed a method of circumventing a security feature and that landed them in court (though not in jail, thankfully). I don't think CDFreak gives out the source-code to their VXD though, but really they pretty much explained it in the article, they just used plain English instead of C or C++.
In Windows 9x/2000, when you view the properties of a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, there's usually a "Digital Playback" option that bypasses the CD-audio cable connected to your soundcard and grabs the data direct from the CD-- I wonder if SafeAudio works with this, or if people who enabled this 'feature' are in for a surprise when they bring home a SafeAudio "protected" CD...
I've read, time and again, that Sony plans on dropping the price on Playstation 2 to $199 this Christmas shopping season to compete directly with Nintendo-- mind you, this is stuff I've READ (on places like IGN, or inside the pages of EGM), and haven't heard officially announced.
Personally, I'm not buying a Playstation 2 until Sony gets off their high horse and realizes that their system sucks (for the price) and prices it appropriately. I mean, I'd actually LIKE to buy one, but not for no fucking $300.
BEGIN RANT
The morons out there seem to think the fact that it plays DVDs makes it cost $100 more, but let's be real folks; a Pioneer DVD-116 16x/40x DVD-ROM drive is like $52-60 OEM (go to Pricewatch, search for "DVD 116" (no quotes): Playstation 2 uses some 2x/10x (I think it's 10x CD, I really don't remember) POS of a DVD-ROM drive. Now, given that most graphics chipsets have some form of built-in DVD decoding capabilities, about the only thing Sony had to do was make sure there was some software included to access and play DVD's. THIS DOES NOT COST $100.
And this brings me to my gripe against Nintendo-- their proprietary DVD-based media probably costs ever so slightly more to manufacture, as do the drives that read them, than a true-blue DVD-ROM would have. I know Nintendo trumpets the fact that their system is a gaming machine, not a multimedia centerpiece, but for the average teen with a TV in his/her room, having the added bonus of being able to watch DVD's in their gaming system makes for one less thing to buy down the road (or hook up to an already taxed collection of inputs on their TV sets).. IMHO: Nintendo kind of dropped the ball with this, but I'll still buy it simply because I KNOW there'll be some great titles for it.
END RANT
(For the freakish weirdos who are currently in a self-created console holy war/jihad, attempting to figure out which console I'm supporting or planning to buy-- it's both. I can't say for sure which order I plan to buy them in, but at some point I will have in my posession both a Nintendo GameCube and a Sony Playstation 2. About the only system not figuring into my pocketbook strategies right now is an X-Box.)
I searched Google as you suggested, and with or without quotes, I got no hits that had anything on this purported N64 shortage.
The only results I got were comments on the shortage of good games (or games at all) or the use of the word "shortage" to define something in a game (gold shortage, shortage of tracks, etc).
As for you marching into a local store and buying a PS2 two days after launch.. sure ya did, and Astronauts were planting the American flag on Neptune the same day too.
Really, because there wasn't a shortage of N64 systems come launch day-- the only shortage there was was of loyal 3rd party developers.
How else do you explain me walking into Toys 'R Us a few days after the launch and buying one in the afternoon/evening?
Again, back to track records and "history not repeating itself"-- Nintendo witnessed the backlash Sony got over the PS2 shortages, Nintendo hasn't (in my memory) ever disappointed on release day by coming up short, and this announcement just further solidifies the idea that geee, they're planning for a big holiday showdown with Sony.
So yes, they are doing a whole lot better than Sony did last year, SO FAR. Keep in mind, Sony announced shortages (not huge stockpiles) long before the PS2 launched. Contrast this to Nintendo, who three months to launch, announces that they plan to have PLENTY of systems to go around. To recap: Sony announced a shortage - Nintendo announced a surplus (they'll still sell out, but the long line issue shouldn't exist as it did for PS2 lovers last Winter).
Not really, simply due to Nintendo's track record lately. They announced that they'd ship X millions of Gameboy Advance systems here and in the United States, and lo and behold, they did (to sold out crowds, 90% of the time). I'm sure things could change between now and then, but IMHO I don't think Nintendo is going to risk the same kind of backlash Sony got over the PS2 fiasco.. Kind of like seeing someone get hit at an intersection-- you tend to start looking both ways before crossing.
Don't forget that Square has also hinted time and again that they'd like to develop on Nintendo's new console-- they're the 3rd party developer that really gave Sony the push they needed to beat Nintendo during the last console war; if they head back to the Big N's fold (even if it's just cross-platform, eg: Final Fantasy on GameCube and PS2) it may be enough to put Sony in their place.
(Can ya tell I'm no big Sony fan.. I liked the PSX and still own one, but the PS2 is overpriced...)
Maybe, but L&H's TTS engine functions fine on a normal PC-- no special server hardware required. (Although they do make versions that work with Dialogic hardware, but that's for a very specific market segment.) I don't know whether AT&T's will (or does) function the same, so you may be right. =)
Is there some form of MALE menstruation I wasn't made aware of in sex-ed classes?
Right, and that's a good idea, except it's not really needed. MP3 (and now Ogg Vorbis, and the new MP3 Pro compression formats) can easily compress voice down to a manageable format, requiring very little processor power to decode and play (vs. TTS, which is pretty processor intensive, more so I'm sure with AT&T's technology). There's also the situation of mixing-- eg: you've got a sound effect going off, or a musical score playing that needs to be mixed with the speech. Between the TTS and the mixing, you're using a lot of CPU power that wouldn't be needed if you played the dialogue from MP3. Now, the right situation for TTS in a game vs. MP3 would be in DYNAMIC text, where you can't have voice actors play a scene out because it changes too often (or, has insertable parameters, eg: "Hello %s, you're looking very handsome this %s" (replace the first %s with the characters name, and the second with the time of day (morning, afternoon, evening))).
There are definately some applications, but I'd prefer they kept to compressed formats except for situations like the one given above. =)
I (and others) claim to understand-- they're holding off on DDR because it allows Rambus a chance to take over the memory marketplace. (Wha, can't use DDR with my new whiz-bang Pentium 4? I'd better buy some sleek new RDRAM!)
Do I think this is wise logic though.. no. Articles on The Register (www.theregister.co.uk) have indicated in the past that the higher-ups at Intel are really regretting getting into bed with RMBS, especially after the fiasco in court over their purported claim to SDRAM. In the end, the Pentium 4 will support DDR *and* SDR, it's only a matter of time.
I read the Slashdot story, and really, the linked-to article didn't say much about what I was concerned with EXCEPT about IBM licensing the technology. The only troll here is you.
Hey moron, my post said right at the top that I didn't read the linked-to article, only the Slashdot story itself. (And then I actually DID go read some of it, before coming back to hit Submit.) I guess this makes you as stupid as I am. And yes, I knew IBM licensed alot of their discoveries, but just because they've done so up until now doesn't mean they'll continue if they believe they've got something that's innovative enough that they can implement and market themselves.
Wanna know what really sucks? I decided to read the linked-to story anyways, and forgot to remove the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I haven't read the linked-to stories, so take this with a grain of salt.
I hope this technology makes it out into the consumer market and gives LCD panels a run for the money-- my main gripe with LCD panels is that they don't handle non-native resolutions gracefully. But if this is true CRT-like technology, we'll finally have the best of both worlds (great support for various resolutions, and the thin form factor!).
Plus the other applications for this, high-resolution replacements for television sets, can't be beat. The large plasma displays (which admittedly probably look better than a large CRT would) may have fallen in price, but a large CRT with this new technology would probably be cheaper for the masses.
Kudos to IBM, let's just hope that the fact that they've gotten a patent on this tech doesn't keep others from using it.
True. =) Well, the first and last links (the ones that hit SCEA's domain) both have the info I detailed in my message (and the pictures, worth a look-see). They're both in English and use regular fonts, so I'm pretty sure you'll be safe. I haven't checked the other links (one is to another Slashdot Article) though, but then I haven't really had time, plus the SCEA site had all the info I was curious about.
Had you followed the links in the story, you would have received answers to atleast 1-2 of your questions--
On the SCEA website they linked to, there's pictures of the whole kit that was released in Japan, and it included a 40GB HDD, as well as a 10/100 ethernet adapter (as well as USB keyboard and mouse, and a VGA cord). They also showed pictures of the OS running Gimp, and I assume with the 10/100 you could probably run Netscape and browse the web or check e-mail. Thus solidifying itself as a VERY useful alternative to WebTV or other set-top Internet boxes.
Personally I want this thing released in the US, I'd buy a PS2 if they did.
This one irked me VERY recently, when a domain I'd wanted (llight.com) was expired, but Network Solution was showing it as still registered for OVER A MONTH. After a long period of post-expiration registration (with it still showing some lady's name, Linda Light, in the WHOIS data (she'd registered her first name's initial plus last name, which happened to be a common word)), it finally expired and now the WHOIS data shows some company based in Korea as having it registered.
I'd like it if NSI actually just EXPIRED domain names and didn't put them into limbo, as appears to be the case here.
On a side note, and since I'm damned curious, does anyone know what happens to a domain registered through NSI once it expires? How many days does it sit idle, and if they do sell them, where?
It's been this way since atleast IE 4.x, and I think even as far back as IE 3.x. They just didn't make it obvious.
Read my reply to the other person who replied to me..
Actually, as far as I'm aware, the redistributable has always been available, even since the IE 3.x and 4.x days. I specifically recall this because Microsoft had a developer article on their website showcasing their 'new' "Rebar" control (now known as a CoolBar-- the bar across the top of IE that has 'bands' that you can drag and reposition, and contain the address bar and main toolbar and links). In this article, they discussed using this new control, but elsewhere on the site they maintained downloads of the Common Controls library update for folks that didn't want to install IE 3.x/4.x. I know for a fact they did this with 4.x (if you click on my link in the previous comment, then click on the download link to download 50COMUPD.EXE, you'll see a listing of other COMCTL32.DLL update packages-- one of them is the 4.0 update (basically IE 4.0's COMCTL32.DLL)). They also did this for developers that didn't want to pack around a 25MB install of IE 3.x/4.x for their little 500-1000k apps. =)
About the only thing Microsoft tied into IE was their WebBrowser control, and you're right about IE making itself the default browser without asking.. I won't dispute that, I was mostly just disputing the original authors idea that without IE you were totally helpless with 3rd party programs that used the new common controls. THOSE you CAN acquire elsewhere, without IE bundled along for the ride..
That's funny, because you can grab COMCTL32.DLL from the Microsoft PlatformSDK without nary a hint of Internet Explorer. It's located in--
[install root]\PlatformSDK\Redist\ComCtl32
Once you install the SDK of course (you can choose to just install the redistributables, none of the documentation or source files).
Plus, you can also download it seperately directly from Microsoft as a 400-500k download.
The only thing IE includes with it that I'm aware of is the MSHTML COM libraries, as well as the WebBrowser control (and it goes without saying that you should need IE for this).