Just to clarify--I don't think it's me. Well, I don't know if I'm really watching less TV than I used to, but I'd like to point out that the 2nd article linked in this posting had a secondary article that explained things a little better. The group Nielsen is apparently casting blame upon is "DYA" or Dependant Young Adults (young folks under 18-34 still living at home). Nielsen seems to think that they are the problematic aspect of the 18-34 bracket. Not sure why that didn't make it into the NYT article..
To prove further they aren't talking about me (or a number of slashdot folks) I quote:
'Nielsen continues to exclude PVR households, as well as other "technically difficult" homes, from its sample.'
Since I'm not a dependant, they were not talking about me anyway, but since I use ReplayTV, I therefore exist outside of their sample and believe I am free of blame. [ahem]
I don't know--I came away from the article understanding the point to be that most of these are products which claim to be rated for kids, even though they should probably have received higher ratings (Doom gets a Teen rating rather than it's traditional Mature rating? MGS2 tie-in toys for 5 year olds? Street Fighter II gets rated E for Everyone?)
Whether you want to claim violent toys do/do not influence youngsters, it is still at least interesting to note that the self-imposed ratings are slipping pretty heavily.. [notably on Gameboy] And if you are a parent trying to seriously look at the ratings, this is a helpful document to consider.
Since you brought it up... [from the CBM-PET FAQ]:
WHAT IS THE 'KILLER POKE' AND SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT IT?
This is THE POKE of computer lore, the command that WILL physically break a
computer! Of course other commands and methods are known that can
potentially cause damage (usually to disks, hard drives or other mechanical
units), but this is the most notable mainly because it was a command somewhat
commonly used and it affects solid-state circuitry.
History of 'the killer poke'
When the first PETs (small 9" screen) models came out, the display wasnt all
that fast.
The old PETs were slow because the print character ROM routine
waited for the interval between screen scans before updating the screen
memory. This reduced conflicts over the screen RAM which would have resulted
in random pixels (snow) being illuminated on the screen. There was an input
on one of the I/O chips which was hooked up to the video circuitry and told
the routine when to access the video RAM.
It wasn't too long before someone learned they could impove the
character display speed via a poke to location 59458; which would set the
video controller to update more readily. It was a noticible improvement of
speed on programs using PRINT often, it was kind of like a free upgrade.
It was mentioned in a few publications and used in many programs that relied
on printing to the screen. I had learned of the poke through Cursor Magazine,
a monthly tape-based publication. They printed the command in one of the
'newsletter' flyers included with an issue which you could insert into their
game "joust" to make it play faster.
Later on, when Commodore released the larger display (14") PETs, they had
improved the display controller which made that POKE unnecessary. An
unfortunate side effect was that the POKE to 59458 affected a different
register which adjusts one of the newer screen display capabilities, which
could result in damaging the PETs video curcuitry when left running. I
discovered it by accident after our school received some large-screen 4016s.
When active, the screen starts to warp after about the third line and the
display stops around the fifth, the keyboard is also unresponsive. When a PET
is in this mode, the only solution is to turn it off, FAST! Fortunately none
of the school's PETs were damaged due to this POKE. Later Cursor Magazine
published a 'fix' that would allow older PETs to use the poke and keep the
large-screen units from frying. Unfortunately there are still many programs
that do not have this fix.
I hesistate to agree with calling production problems a "mistake" when the system still made it's debut in time for Christmas. If we are looking for a mistake, it would probabaly be the lackluster game selection.
But anyway.. I believe you actually mean they have learned from Nintendo's mistake (if you really want to call it that), as they made it long before Sony was even a glimmer in the game console market..
Which is good, of course--it means Nintendo may have learned from their OWN "mistake", which I hear is always a good idea.:)
I had been thinking about buying one for awhile, had it budgeted for next month.
Well don't let this stop you.. if the money is already earmarked, you can always buy a ReplayTV for about the same money. It's interesting to me after reading a lot of messages today that there isn't much talk about Tivo's non-subscription based comepetitor. I looked at all 3 major PVR's and decided among other things that ($0 < $10)/month was pretty cool. As such, I've been quite happy with mine for a few months now.
It's probably a little OT, but I'd be curious to hear why a lot of folks appear to be sold on Tivo over Replay (well--aside from today, of course). Is Replay not as widely available? Is there a killer-feature missing? (always curious how the other half lives)
How quickly we forget? Some days the mob mentality on Slashdot gets ridiculous. Less than a month ago folks were fishing for moderation points by saying "We need to go out and buy Easy CD Creator to support Roxio" (for switching to freedb). Now we have to [insert favorite action expletivehere] them?
So does this mean all the folks who claimed they were going to go out to buy a copy should now burn/sledgehammer their CD?
For me, this is an awesome idea. If I can download and burn individual songs (at a realistic "per song" price) then I don't have to pay for the entire album. I like the idea of singles (since often the rest of an album is not very appealing); however, with singles you have this useless CD with like 3 copies of the SAME song on it plus a slightly bloated price. If I can pay to DL it and create my own CD of "this month's favorites" then I don't have this annoying stack of CD's sitting in my closet.
I don't think the lawsuit is about the CONCEPT of storing a large CD-info database, rather about the technology used to access that info and/or the algorithm for identifying CDs.
Gracenote's press release lists the following objections:
1) Patent infringement "by illegally inducing the use of Gracenote's industry acclaimed patented music recognition inventions"
2) "violations of Federal law", that is, "violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by offering products that circumvent Gracenote's technological measures to obtain access to an unauthorized derivative of the CDDB copyrighted database."
They also list, but don't expand on:
3) "breach of contract"
4) "trademark infringement"
So while your point is certainly an interesting one, it doesn't seem analogous to Gracenote's claim. Gracenote is apparently trying to indirectly target freedb by attacking defectors.
Each point has a fault or two that comes to mind, but of course "I'm an engineer, not a.." lawyer. From what I gathered from freedb.org they use the same protocol. I guess Gracenote believes that is their technology alone. If this is true, it seems they should target freedb, not Roxio. "Breach of contract" seems moot, since their contract had expired; however reading one of the comments above it sounds like they probably own your for life once you sign. (not allowed to switch to a competitor's service? ouch.. would be interesing to read that license agreement).
Your favorite software giant (oh, let's leave it to your imagination) purchases the company selling the product then promptly discontinues it to celebrate Tuesday. The keys expire within a year and POOF!
A slick new way to eliminate competing software might be upon us. (not that anyone I can think of would every do this)...
Slashdot Mirror
Just to clarify--I don't think it's me. Well, I don't know if I'm really watching less TV than I used to, but I'd like to point out that the 2nd article linked in this posting had a secondary article that explained things a little better. The group Nielsen is apparently casting blame upon is "DYA" or Dependant Young Adults (young folks under 18-34 still living at home). Nielsen seems to think that they are the problematic aspect of the 18-34 bracket. Not sure why that didn't make it into the NYT article..
To prove further they aren't talking about me (or a number of slashdot folks) I quote:
'Nielsen continues to exclude PVR households, as well as other "technically difficult" homes, from its sample.'
Since I'm not a dependant, they were not talking about me anyway, but since I use ReplayTV, I therefore exist outside of their sample and believe I am free of blame. [ahem]
So please don't go blaming me! Thanks :)
Current ReplayTV boxes automagically skip the commercials--no button pressing is required.
I don't know--I came away from the article understanding the point to be that most of these are products which claim to be rated for kids, even though they should probably have received higher ratings (Doom gets a Teen rating rather than it's traditional Mature rating? MGS2 tie-in toys for 5 year olds? Street Fighter II gets rated E for Everyone?)
Whether you want to claim violent toys do/do not influence youngsters, it is still at least interesting to note that the self-imposed ratings are slipping pretty heavily.. [notably on Gameboy] And if you are a parent trying to seriously look at the ratings, this is a helpful document to consider.
Since you brought it up... [from the CBM-PET FAQ]:
WHAT IS THE 'KILLER POKE' AND SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT IT?
This is THE POKE of computer lore, the command that WILL physically break a
computer! Of course other commands and methods are known that can
potentially cause damage (usually to disks, hard drives or other mechanical
units), but this is the most notable mainly because it was a command somewhat
commonly used and it affects solid-state circuitry.
History of 'the killer poke'
When the first PETs (small 9" screen) models came out, the display wasnt all
that fast.
The old PETs were slow because the print character ROM routine
waited for the interval between screen scans before updating the screen
memory. This reduced conflicts over the screen RAM which would have resulted
in random pixels (snow) being illuminated on the screen. There was an input
on one of the I/O chips which was hooked up to the video circuitry and told
the routine when to access the video RAM.
It wasn't too long before someone learned they could impove the
character display speed via a poke to location 59458; which would set the
video controller to update more readily. It was a noticible improvement of
speed on programs using PRINT often, it was kind of like a free upgrade.
It was mentioned in a few publications and used in many programs that relied
on printing to the screen. I had learned of the poke through Cursor Magazine,
a monthly tape-based publication. They printed the command in one of the
'newsletter' flyers included with an issue which you could insert into their
game "joust" to make it play faster.
Later on, when Commodore released the larger display (14") PETs, they had
improved the display controller which made that POKE unnecessary. An
unfortunate side effect was that the POKE to 59458 affected a different
register which adjusts one of the newer screen display capabilities, which
could result in damaging the PETs video curcuitry when left running. I
discovered it by accident after our school received some large-screen 4016s.
When active, the screen starts to warp after about the third line and the
display stops around the fifth, the keyboard is also unresponsive. When a PET
is in this mode, the only solution is to turn it off, FAST! Fortunately none
of the school's PETs were damaged due to this POKE. Later Cursor Magazine
published a 'fix' that would allow older PETs to use the poke and keep the
large-screen units from frying. Unfortunately there are still many programs
that do not have this fix.
I hesistate to agree with calling production problems a "mistake" when the system still made it's debut in time for Christmas. If we are looking for a mistake, it would probabaly be the lackluster game selection.
:)
But anyway.. I believe you actually mean they have learned from Nintendo's mistake (if you really want to call it that), as they made it long before Sony was even a glimmer in the game console market..
Which is good, of course--it means Nintendo may have learned from their OWN "mistake", which I hear is always a good idea.
I had been thinking about buying one for awhile, had it budgeted for next month.
Well don't let this stop you.. if the money is already earmarked, you can always buy a ReplayTV for about the same money. It's interesting to me after reading a lot of messages today that there isn't much talk about Tivo's non-subscription based comepetitor. I looked at all 3 major PVR's and decided among other things that ($0 < $10)/month was pretty cool. As such, I've been quite happy with mine for a few months now.
It's probably a little OT, but I'd be curious to hear why a lot of folks appear to be sold on Tivo over Replay (well--aside from today, of course). Is Replay not as widely available? Is there a killer-feature missing? (always curious how the other half lives)
How quickly we forget? Some days the mob mentality on Slashdot gets ridiculous. Less than a month ago folks were fishing for moderation points by saying "We need to go out and buy Easy CD Creator to support Roxio" (for switching to freedb). Now we have to [insert favorite action expletivehere] them?
So does this mean all the folks who claimed they were going to go out to buy a copy should now burn/sledgehammer their CD?
For me, this is an awesome idea. If I can download and burn individual songs (at a realistic "per song" price) then I don't have to pay for the entire album. I like the idea of singles (since often the rest of an album is not very appealing); however, with singles you have this useless CD with like 3 copies of the SAME song on it plus a slightly bloated price. If I can pay to DL it and create my own CD of "this month's favorites" then I don't have this annoying stack of CD's sitting in my closet.
Strange enough, I guess that's possible:
"Some of LNG's key features (unordered)...
* A simple web server (experimental)"
I don't think the lawsuit is about the CONCEPT of storing a large CD-info database, rather about the technology used to access that info and/or the algorithm for identifying CDs.
Gracenote's press release lists the following objections:
1) Patent infringement "by illegally inducing the use of Gracenote's industry acclaimed patented music recognition inventions"
2) "violations of Federal law", that is, "violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by offering products that circumvent Gracenote's technological measures to obtain access to an unauthorized derivative of the CDDB copyrighted database."
They also list, but don't expand on:
3) "breach of contract"
4) "trademark infringement"
So while your point is certainly an interesting one, it doesn't seem analogous to Gracenote's claim. Gracenote is apparently trying to indirectly target freedb by attacking defectors.
Each point has a fault or two that comes to mind, but of course "I'm an engineer, not a.." lawyer. From what I gathered from freedb.org they use the same protocol. I guess Gracenote believes that is their technology alone. If this is true, it seems they should target freedb, not Roxio. "Breach of contract" seems moot, since their contract had expired; however reading one of the comments above it sounds like they probably own your for life once you sign. (not allowed to switch to a competitor's service? ouch.. would be interesing to read that license agreement).
anyway...
Your favorite software giant (oh, let's leave it to your imagination) purchases the company selling the product then promptly discontinues it to celebrate Tuesday. The keys expire within a year and POOF!
A slick new way to eliminate competing software might be upon us. (not that anyone I can think of would every do this)...