Jeez. It's like Slashdot is doing everything in it's power to turn into a one-trick show. News Flash: Microsoft Still Doing Things That Piss Us Off!
Random Businessman 1: "We're doomed! Only a miracle can save us now!"
Hysterical Woman: "We need Linux! Tux, where are you?? Save us!"
Random Businessman 2: "Look! Up there!" cut to shot of Tux, soaring above city. Tux looks down, smiles and waves
Chorus of Schoolchildren: "Tux!!!!"
Yes kids, tune in next week when Tux saves the world from the evil clutches of Microsoft yet again...
Video Gaming and movies are very, very different entertainment mediums, with the best games relying upon great play mechanics rather than a great story. John Woo has a wonderful sense of rhythm, timing, and camera angles but those things are controlled by the player in any game.
I disagree. Game developers have often employed triggers, timers, spawn points, hidden doors, environment changes and the like to sculpt the player's actions into a clearly scripted experience, even in FPS games.
Case in point: Unreal. That one hallway--you know the one I'm talking about. You run down it, hit a switch, start to run back, and the lights start audibly going out, one by one. Eventually, you hear the last light click off, and you're treated to about four seconds of total darkness.
Then, you hear something snarl.
one second later, all hell breaks loose. You're getting -shot at- by an unseen, previously un-encountered enemy, the music goes berzerk, and you're too terrified to think straight.
Now, even though I was in total control of my character during that entire sequence, the game designers did a stunning job of sculpting the environment around my character to the point where it was quite effectively scripted. This is the kind of experience that a great movie director can bring to a video game--the ability to sculpt and prepare a game environment as if it were a scene from a movie.
Heh. Not to knock NH, but those are snowstorms, not blizzards. Blizzards dump feet of snow, have high winds that create huge drifts and zero visibility, and bring deadly cold. They're vicious.
Real blizzards can cause massive disruptions to the power and transportation grids for days on end. If you're living in the Midwest, the power goes out, and you can't even get your car out of the garage, you can be in serious trouble when the weather gets cold. (My wife's family lived in North Dakota when she was young, and there were times when they would -burn furniture- for heat because of power outages from winter storms. In a blizzard, no heat=no life.)
Even normal snowstorms can be deadly. The first snowfall of the year invariably brings droves of automobile accidents, even if it's little more than a dusting.
Interesting statistic: in 1997, winter storms killed more people than tornadoes did. (source)
Wow. I just dug thorough eMusic and found it somewhat...lacking. Do a search on any of the following artists:
Fleetwood Mac
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Aerosmith
Jimmy Buffett
The Who
Madonna
Billy Idol
Micheal Jackson*
Cake
Bruce Springsteen
Janis Joplin
Pink Floyd
Sex Pistols
Sheryl Crow
Led Zeppelin
Hank Williams (Jr. or Sr.)
Paul Simon
ABBA
Joe Cocker
The Cure
Jimi Hendrix*
Yo-Yo Ma
The Supremes
Bon Jovi
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
U2
Gene Autry
AC/DC
The Eagles
Devo
ZZ Top
The Prodigy
Elvis Presley*
Trust me, this list goes on.
What's the use of unlimited downloads when the library is, quite frankly, not up to snuff? I mean, c'mon. Nothing* by these artists? You'd have a helluva time finding a bricks-and-mortar record store that didn't carry a single one of these artists.
(* Jimi Hendrix has -one track- listed on the entire service, "Slow Walkin' Talk" with Robert Wyatt. Elvis has one album on the service, "The Louisiana Hayride Archives"; none of his studio-recorded music is available. There is one piece by the Jackson Five available--"Blame It on the Boogie", on the "Wow! Karaoke To Your Favorite Hits" album. I hesitate to call any of these representative of the artist's work...)
"We believe that just like in television, the creative you build is what gets shown, the technology should not get in the way," said Allie Savarino, senior vice president for global marketing, Unicast.
Heh. I agree wholeheartedly on the point of technology not getting in the way--if what they do annoys me, I'll work around it, regardless of whatever technology they employ to keep me from doing so. The marketroids may not yet realize it, but computer geeks know how to use technology, too!
I'd say that this is like biting the hand that feeds you, but it's really more like biting the ass that flaps at you from a passing car's window. It's a really, really bad idea, the execution is almost guaranteed to be ugly, and in the end, the marketer's face is gonna be in a whole lot worse shape than the geek's ass...
Yes, I understand that the one is a radio service and the other is a download service, but it would seem that, on principle, you'd rather just listen to (perfectly legal!) free AM/FM radio or CDs than shell out money for a IP-restrictive, 128 kbps stream service...
"...there is no fair use! Fair use has not been seen within 300 miles of Baghdad! The power of copyright is absolute and unwavering, and it shall crush the infidels that would steal Iraqi music!"
I have the 12" PB and it does indeed wobble on flat surfaces, esp. as it heats. Overall, it's a pretty minor thing, but I gave the local Apple Store (Towson, MD) a ring to see what they knew.
They said that they hadn't heard of any problems with it (are all the feet there?) but if I wanted to bring it in, they'd be happy to have a technician look at it.
Really, though, it's a fairly minor annoyance, though it's probably the biggest "problem" I'd say the machine has. I've had it for about a month now.
At $0.99 (US) a song, this is still expensive, considering you still don't get original quality of the song (yeah yeah, sounds the exact same, blah blah; but there are times it's better to have the hi-quality original then a compressed format when doing editings, etc...), or a physical media, or the physical cover/lyrics, all in a jewel case...
...
If it was 2/3 that price, then I'd definitely say it's worth it. But for now, I think they missed their own mark.
Heck, that's your perogative. I'd be willing to bet that most folks, though, would jump at the chance to download an album straight to their computer for less than the CD costs, without the added fun of having to drive/walk/metro to the record store and find it (or not) on their racks. You get album art with your download, and many people simply discard their jewel cases in favor of folders and other slim storage.
For example, consider The Eagles' Greatest Hits, 1971-1975. Music store: Probably $12, $10 or $8 if you get lucky and find it on sale or used in good condition. Time from "I want" to "I hear", an hour, best case scenario; more likely a day or two--gotta find time to go out and get it, Sam Goody is all out, etc. Online with Apple: $9.90. Time from "I want" to "I hear": a minute or two until iTunes starts playing your first downloaded track to maybe an hour if you're stuck on dialup.
I'd say they're dead-on the mark. Most people buy music to listen to the music; concerns such as highest CD quality vs. ACC, special features, and a physical cover really just don't matter to most folks once you get rid of the the marketing machine that tells them it does.
I was mulling over the idea of posting some Iraqi Info Minister "Red Hat shall burn!" tripe, but then I stumbled upon this gem in the article:
McBride: Everyone just says we're a company going out of business, and throwing a Hail Mary pass, but once we get to court, those who say that will look as strange as the Iraqi information minister on TV saying the infidels are defeated and did not get into Baghdad.
Wow. That's like the Iraqi Information Minister saying that Rummy is going to look as strange as the Iraqi Information Minister when this is all over...or...something.
Now I do understand that many people have moral issues with genetic engineering, and I did (and still somewhat do) too, but if done right, what's the problem. For those don't understand, read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It's a scary world that he describes, looking at it from our point of view; however, from the inhabitants point of view, it's a perfect world. Brainwashed, yes, but very few people are unhappy. Furthermore, the few that are too intelligent to live in that world are given their own island, to do as they please.
Read Brave New World through the eyes of a person who read it waay back in 1932, hot off it's first run. Consider how very bally writing things like "Our Ford" was back then compared to today; consider how shockingly risque the level of sexuality would have been, even on the heels of the roaring twenties.
We've made a number of huge steps towards Huxley's 'utopia' since it's original publication. In general, we've been tickled pink about it. Think about it--how many people do you know who are perfectly content to go through life playing video games and smoking weed/drinking beer/inhaling Cheezy Puffs? Compare and contrast to liesure time opportunities and habits of the average first-world citizen in 1932.
Huh. You'd think that this all would have happened with the rise of cheap microcameras. Does your insurance company require you put an X10 camera in your vehicle to take snapshots of potential theives? Does Big Larr' require you to have a webcam connected to your Oracle server? There are thousands of cameras connected to computers--barring Black Helicopter Conspiracy Theories, is there -any- evidence that kiddies are hacking into them en masse?
All this new product would provide is the fusion of a camera and a monitor into a single device. There already exist many devices that integrate both a viewer-facing camera and a standard LCD into a single compact package. How does a 2-way LCD suddenly catapult us into the nightmare world of Orwell when we could be there with today's technology?
American AC in Paris writes "In this thread, we will describe some very cool features in Mozilla which will enable you to quickly find the maximum load of your web site and applications."
While I wish the world wasn't like this, compare and contrast the following:
1. Padilla has a fairly nasty criminal history, little personal achievement to speak of, and no connections. Surprisingly enough, his name still pops up in major newspapers.
2. Hawash has a white, American-born wife, three painfully photogenic kids, was a loved, productive member of society, and (oh yeah) has a friggin' Intel ex-exec running a "Free Mike Hawash" website.
The American public may be sheep, but the American media knows a heartstring-puller when they see one, and if they're the shepards...
Slashdot Mirror
Random Businessman 1: "We're doomed! Only a miracle can save us now!"
Hysterical Woman: "We need Linux! Tux, where are you?? Save us!"
Random Businessman 2: "Look! Up there!"
cut to shot of Tux, soaring above city. Tux looks down, smiles and waves
Chorus of Schoolchildren: "Tux!!!!"
Yes kids, tune in next week when Tux saves the world from the evil clutches of Microsoft yet again ...
I disagree. Game developers have often employed triggers, timers, spawn points, hidden doors, environment changes and the like to sculpt the player's actions into a clearly scripted experience, even in FPS games.
Case in point: Unreal. That one hallway--you know the one I'm talking about. You run down it, hit a switch, start to run back, and the lights start audibly going out, one by one. Eventually, you hear the last light click off, and you're treated to about four seconds of total darkness.
Then, you hear something snarl.
one second later, all hell breaks loose. You're getting -shot at- by an unseen, previously un-encountered enemy, the music goes berzerk, and you're too terrified to think straight.
Now, even though I was in total control of my character during that entire sequence, the game designers did a stunning job of sculpting the environment around my character to the point where it was quite effectively scripted. This is the kind of experience that a great movie director can bring to a video game--the ability to sculpt and prepare a game environment as if it were a scene from a movie.
Money_Taken_In - Money_Spent = Budget_Surplus_Or_Deficit
Negative values of Budget_Surplus_Or_Deficit are deficits.
Why don't they try SPENDING LESS rather than TAKING IN MORE?
Oh, I forgot, the California is on the LEFT coast.
Exactly--mod parent up!
If only those idjit libbruls understood that it's simply not enough to merely spend more--you need to take in less at the same time!
Massive tax cuts are the only way to combat massive deficits!
Trickle-down econom--err, the "wealth effect" is the only thing that can save us now!
Down the rabbit hole!
Real blizzards can cause massive disruptions to the power and transportation grids for days on end. If you're living in the Midwest, the power goes out, and you can't even get your car out of the garage, you can be in serious trouble when the weather gets cold. (My wife's family lived in North Dakota when she was young, and there were times when they would -burn furniture- for heat because of power outages from winter storms. In a blizzard, no heat=no life.)
Even normal snowstorms can be deadly. The first snowfall of the year invariably brings droves of automobile accidents, even if it's little more than a dusting. Interesting statistic: in 1997, winter storms killed more people than tornadoes did. (source)
West coast? quakes, fires, mudslides, volcanoes
East coast? Hurricanes
South? Hurricanes
Northeast? Blizzards
Could one include Texas in the South's list, or is this list only for natural disasters?
*ducks*
Even if you can't make it to the mecca of excitement that is Des Moines, you can still get your Lockergnome-approved daily dose of gnomish fun here...
</span>
Trust me, this list goes on.
What's the use of unlimited downloads when the library is, quite frankly, not up to snuff? I mean, c'mon. Nothing* by these artists? You'd have a helluva time finding a bricks-and-mortar record store that didn't carry a single one of these artists.
(* Jimi Hendrix has -one track- listed on the entire service, "Slow Walkin' Talk" with Robert Wyatt. Elvis has one album on the service, "The Louisiana Hayride Archives"; none of his studio-recorded music is available. There is one piece by the Jackson Five available--"Blame It on the Boogie", on the "Wow! Karaoke To Your Favorite Hits" album. I hesitate to call any of these representative of the artist's work...)
Excellent! I'll finally be able to see the phrase "UH-OH! THE TRUCK HAVE STARTED TO MOVE!" lovingly rendered in beautiful, beautiful 3D...
"We believe that just like in television, the creative you build is what gets shown, the technology should not get in the way," said Allie Savarino, senior vice president for global marketing, Unicast.
Heh. I agree wholeheartedly on the point of technology not getting in the way--if what they do annoys me, I'll work around it, regardless of whatever technology they employ to keep me from doing so. The marketroids may not yet realize it, but computer geeks know how to use technology, too!
I'd say that this is like biting the hand that feeds you, but it's really more like biting the ass that flaps at you from a passing car's window. It's a really, really bad idea, the execution is almost guaranteed to be ugly, and in the end, the marketer's face is gonna be in a whole lot worse shape than the geek's ass...
Yes, I understand that the one is a radio service and the other is a download service, but it would seem that, on principle, you'd rather just listen to (perfectly legal!) free AM/FM radio or CDs than shell out money for a IP-restrictive, 128 kbps stream service...
Hillary "Heinous Hil" Rosen, Iraqi I.P. Minister
They said that they hadn't heard of any problems with it (are all the feet there?) but if I wanted to bring it in, they'd be happy to have a technician look at it.
Really, though, it's a fairly minor annoyance, though it's probably the biggest "problem" I'd say the machine has. I've had it for about a month now.
- Get music from artists,
- Offer tracks in an open format (ie ogg),
- Charge 50 cents per track,
- Keep 5 cents for your trouble,
- Give artist 45 cents,
- Shut up.
Right?Right. Now for the X-Prize checklist:
- Design rocket.
- Build rocket.
- Launch it into the upper atmosphere.
- Do it again within two weeks.
- Collect prize money.
- Go buy a keg.
Couldn't be easier, huh?Join me next week when I distill world peace into six easy steps!
(IHBT)
If it was 2/3 that price, then I'd definitely say it's worth it. But for now, I think they missed their own mark.
Heck, that's your perogative. I'd be willing to bet that most folks, though, would jump at the chance to download an album straight to their computer for less than the CD costs, without the added fun of having to drive/walk/metro to the record store and find it (or not) on their racks. You get album art with your download, and many people simply discard their jewel cases in favor of folders and other slim storage.
For example, consider The Eagles' Greatest Hits, 1971-1975. Music store: Probably $12, $10 or $8 if you get lucky and find it on sale or used in good condition. Time from "I want" to "I hear", an hour, best case scenario; more likely a day or two--gotta find time to go out and get it, Sam Goody is all out, etc. Online with Apple: $9.90. Time from "I want" to "I hear": a minute or two until iTunes starts playing your first downloaded track to maybe an hour if you're stuck on dialup.
I'd say they're dead-on the mark. Most people buy music to listen to the music; concerns such as highest CD quality vs. ACC, special features, and a physical cover really just don't matter to most folks once you get rid of the the marketing machine that tells them it does.
McBride: Everyone just says we're a company going out of business, and throwing a Hail Mary pass, but once we get to court, those who say that will look as strange as the Iraqi information minister on TV saying the infidels are defeated and did not get into Baghdad.
Wow. That's like the Iraqi Information Minister saying that Rummy is going to look as strange as the Iraqi Information Minister when this is all over...or...something.
You can do better than that! Encrypt the encrypted keyring, ROT-13 it, and hand it over on shuffled, waterlogged punch cards.
That will force them to use their dinner, lunch, and midnight snack computers, as well!
...nobody can hear your webserver scream.
Read Brave New World through the eyes of a person who read it waay back in 1932, hot off it's first run. Consider how very bally writing things like "Our Ford" was back then compared to today; consider how shockingly risque the level of sexuality would have been, even on the heels of the roaring twenties.
We've made a number of huge steps towards Huxley's 'utopia' since it's original publication. In general, we've been tickled pink about it. Think about it--how many people do you know who are perfectly content to go through life playing video games and smoking weed/drinking beer/inhaling Cheezy Puffs? Compare and contrast to liesure time opportunities and habits of the average first-world citizen in 1932.
Huxley was right about a good many things.
Ah, but they have!
Didn't the newton have hadwriting regognition?
Yes it dud, mole or lease.
All this new product would provide is the fusion of a camera and a monitor into a single device. There already exist many devices that integrate both a viewer-facing camera and a standard LCD into a single compact package. How does a 2-way LCD suddenly catapult us into the nightmare world of Orwell when we could be there with today's technology?
I only hope that it can talk to my Bluetooth-enabled heated ice cube tray.
American AC in Paris writes "In this thread, we will describe some very cool features in Mozilla which will enable you to quickly find the maximum load of your web site and applications."
1. Padilla has a fairly nasty criminal history, little personal achievement to speak of, and no connections. Surprisingly enough, his name still pops up in major newspapers.
2. Hawash has a white, American-born wife, three painfully photogenic kids, was a loved, productive member of society, and (oh yeah) has a friggin' Intel ex-exec running a "Free Mike Hawash" website.
The American public may be sheep, but the American media knows a heartstring-puller when they see one, and if they're the shepards...