Actually I tend to be a few months behind the latest releases myself, because I value reliability over having the very latest features. And a few months of BIOS and driver upgrades often make a difference.
My (desktop) machines are usually mid range in performance, with an eye on quality parts and moderate to low energy consumption. That means things like decent power supplies with 80+ percent efficiency, CPUs and GPUs with a power consumption of 70 watts each or less, and quality RAM with ECC. For brands that do well in reviews which test robustness and reliability, I'm willing to pay a few euros more. In particular, that means power supplies and RAM, because both reviews and my own experience in those areas have shown there is real crap in the market.
Finally, there is one real lesson learned I'd like to pass on: If possible, get GPUs and main boards with passive heat sinks (for the main board chipset). Or at least make sure there are aftermarket replacements available. The fans on those tend to be lousy quality and develop defective bearings after maybe a year, and getting a replacement that fits can be difficult (finding a CPU cooler is much easier, so I usually try the standard CPU cooler first and worry about alternatives later).
I'm more of a hobbyist, and have built half a dozen systems for myself over the years. Admittedly all of those were desktops where stuff is mostly standardized. So far I have no breakage from mistakes in assembling the machines. And no problems with the heat sink paste either;-) I had to replace a few fans or entire heatsinks when the bearings went bad, and in one case a mainboard/CPU combo. But all of those were bad components, which you can also get from buying a pre-made PC.
I'm not opposed to buying pre-made on principle, but I have rarely seen an offer where I liked all the components that were installed. If those were specified in detail at all. The better office machines tend to have the quality components I want, but the GPU options often end one class below what I'm looking for. Besides, large vendors often use non-standard parts which will really limit your options for later upgrades. Compaq putting part of the BIOS onto the HD (around the year 2000) comes to mind. Or proprietary main board form factors. Bleh. The pre-made machines for the home user tend to be built for maximum gaming performance, but without regard for reliability and energy efficiency. CPUs that eat 120 watts of power? Cheap no-name RAM (don't even think of ECC)? Bleh.
Unless you have money to burn or zero skill at assembling a PC yourself, I recommend putting together your own machine. You can get a comparable rig for much less money than an Alienware that way, even if you choose a nice designer case.
The lousy customer service is merely the icing on the cake.
...the strings will probably come in the form of some non-compete. You might not be able to get the money without agreeing to a non-compete, but make sure it is clearly limited in scope and duration. For negotiating the exact terms, parent's advice of hiring a lawyer is probably a good idea.
If you decide in favor, make certain the process moves as quickly as possible. Make sure you have put in place -- before taking each and every step -- provisions for backing out (at no cost to you). At the slightest sign of foot-dragging, stop the process and pull out.
Alternatively, demand a large enough fixed sum that $Megacorp has to pay you as soon as the contract is signed. So even if they drag their feet, you got your profit from the deal. This also protect you against the scenario whre they hire you first to get your technology, then fire you under some pretext.
For the average person who got the OS with the computer, activation problems means that Microsoft has NOT gotten Anti-Piracy to work right. Legitimate users should not be bothered by the system. If that happens anyway, I guess it will happen across the board, for people with and without solid computer knowledge. Most of them (your "average person") might believe it was their own mistake, but a few will say goodbye to Windows. But overall, I expect the numbers to be small in this category.
The interesting question is "what happens with the freeloaders if they cannot pirate Windows 7". Lets assume Microsoft comes up with something really hard to crack. It follows that 1) some will pay up for Windows 7 2) many will install XP instead (plenty of hacked versions and pirated Corporate Editions in the wild) 3) some will say goodbye to Windows as above.
1) is what Microsoft obviously wants. 2) is sort of what happens right now, but for other reasons (People prefer XP over Vista). Microsoft won't like it, but it will not make their situation worse. 3) hurts Microsoft's market share, other OS will gain some more visibility.
My guess: Microsoft gains some money from 1) but 3) will hurt them more in the long run.
And it's only recently that the pile of compatibility hacks and inability to make fundamental design decisions has caught up to MS and been harming them from the market's point of view.
In my own experience as software developer, you can get away with compatibility hacks for a few years, but eventually the inherited design limitations and the complexity from managing the workarounds will kill you.
That Microsoft has managed it for about 15 years now with the Windows NT product line (on which Vista and Windows 7 are still based) is quite an achievement and shows that they have some pretty smart developers. But I agree that it has reached the point where it has become a major liability. Some of the workarounds in Vista with redirecting file access (to protect the "C:\Programs" path but still run applications that write into the installation folder) look positively crazy.
By other accounts, Windows 7 is fast when it has plenty of RAM. Sometimes even faster than XP. But it is still a memory hog. In http://www.itwire.com/content/view/24805/1231/ (linked in a previous Slashdot article), the author claims (emphasis mine)
Upon logging in, and without any other programs installed or running, 7.73GB of the hard drive was used already. On a roomy 160GB hard drive that's not a problem but if your netbook uses a solid state hard disk then space may be more of a premium.
The task manager's performance tab showed 33 processes running and 465MB of RAM - or about 45% - in use while sitting idle.
My conclusion is that it will be fine with 2 GB RAM or more, but anyone with less memory will still be unhappy. On the other hand, some old Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon (32 bit) might still run fine if you add a bit of RAM (cheap these days).
Joe Sixpack will, of course, use what is pre-installed and that alone will help Windows 7 to become the dominant Windows version eventually. From corporate IT I expect less resistance this time as Windows 7 actually seems to be a halfway decent system. And some people who really hate DRM (like me) will stick to XP as long as possible, then switch to Linux.
The hardware is actually not that expensive (anymore). Checking my preferred mail order shop for computer stuff: Windows 7 needs at worst one GB RAM more than XP, and that amounts to 15-20 euros, assuming quality RAM. Harddisk space is so cheap that the difference costs maybe one euro in HD space (OK it's more with a SSD).
The real problem of Vista was the abysmal user experience, and according to all tests so far Windows 7 will fix that. So I expect it to do well on new PCs with 2 GB RAM or more. Netbooks and ultra-cheap machines with only one GB RAM will remain a problem.
Vista and Windows 7 use a lot of RAM for caching so that your computer is faster. It's not using more RAM just to annoy you. After all, you PAID for that RAM, so why not actually use it to speed up your system? If an application needs lots of RAM and you're running short on physical RAM, it will free up that RAM and make it available for use by other applications automatically so you haven't lost anything.
If you're that bothered - just stick with Windows 98 which doesn't do any of this stuff.
You might have problems finding Win 98 drivers for new hardware these days. The same goes for Windows 2000 by the way. I actually tried running a relatively new dual core PC under Windows 2000, with a mix of (outdated) Windows 2000 drivers and XP drivers. But the system was never quite stable.
A switch to XP solved those problems, and it is also what I'd recommend for every netbook owner who does not want to go Linux right away. XP is still well supported, and it uses MUCH less RAM than Vista/Windows 7.
At an earlier point in TFA, the author states (emphasis mine)
Upon logging in, and without any other programs installed or running, 7.73GB of the hard drive was used already. On a roomy 160GB hard drive that's not a problem but if your netbook uses a solid state hard disk then space may be more of a premium.
The task manager's performance tab showed 33 processes running and 465MB of RAM - or about 45% - in use while sitting idle. While nearly half the RAM being consumed without actually doing anything useful may be concerning it's not actually a big deal. Microsoft claim that Windows 7 (and Vista too, but its success is arguable) pre-loads parts of programs it expects you to use.
So the 465MB of RAM actually seem to be the consumption of Windows 7, because there were no applications besides the OS installed that could be preloaded. The rest obviously is the fault of Office 2007. Which is also a lot more than I'd expect from an office application.
For comparison: Right now, I'm running Windows XP SP3, have several SeaMonkey(Browser) windows open and I have started Open Office with a small text document. Memory usage according to Task Manager: - Total 365 MB - SeaMonkey about 120 MB - Open Office around 60 MB. - a few MB for AVG Antivirus, split into several processes. That leaves maybe 180 MB Windows XP is using for its own services.
Other tests have claimed that Windows 7 with plenty of RAM is just as fast as XP, sometimes better. But the fact remains that it is still a memory hog.
The German C't computer magazine numbers recently published the following statistics for its website:
- Windows XP 55.5 percent of page impressions - Windows Vista 14.4 percent - Linux 14.8 percent - Mac OS 7.7 percent
The profile for this site is some combination of "IT worker / developer / computer hobbyist". Obviously "geeky" sites attract more users of non-Microsoft systems. In this case Linux usage even exceeds Mac OS.
Also interesting is the breakdown of Windows by version: Netcraft has 62.21% for XP and 23.90% for Vista, that makes 2.6 XP users per Vista user. The above numbers from the C't website show 3.85 XP users per Vista user. Obviously the C't readership dislikes Vista even more than the bulk of the market.
Actually XP Professional needs activation too. But some large corporations had the same concerns about being locked out, and Microsoft gave in and created the "Corporate Edition" for them. This version does not require activation and is not sold to private users. Of course, some employees at those companies copied the "Corporate Edition" and it got into the usual "black" distribution channels. Which means that once more the software pirates got the better product than the honest user...
The geek's obsession with activation can be really puzzling to others. We geeks have a strong aversion against giving up control of our toys;-) That includes wanting to reinstall the OS when we feel like it, without asking someone for permission. And the typical geek does this more frequently than every 8 years.
I can confirm that Windows 2000 was quite popular in corporate environments. But it had no cheap "Home" version, so GP may have gotten the impression that it was unsuccessful from not seeing much Windows 2000 use on home PCs.
But even in that environment, some people happily pirated and used it. Of course, the same people also have no qualms about pirating XP, and by now hardware vendors often don't bother with Windows 2000 drivers anymore. Which makes the Windows XP Corporate Edition more desirable these days, as it is activation free like Windows 2000 and still has good driver support;-)
As you already pointed out, the final MMORPG usually changes things or introduces completely new elements to balance the game. At this point, the original IP does not really explain the changed world anymore. Besides, a huge amount of drivel is not necessary to explain the background. One page of text per faction will do, and the details of gameplay need explaining anyway, even with existing IP. If you have a passable author that will write a lengthy background story, fine, but that is strictly optional.
But the main reason I prefer games based on original concepts is that they tend to be more original in terms of gameplay too. My impression is that games based on existing IP usually try to emulate that world by tailoring some existing genre to more or less fit the IP. Without doing more than the balance changes mentioned above. Really original games tend to revolve around their innovation and make the background story match that. If they bother at all. For instance Doom, which was innovative by being one of the first FPS - the background story essentially was "Marine, we have lost control with the mars base. Go and clear it out!".
As I understand it, -"autoplay" means automatically starting the media player for the file type found on the medium you just inserted -"autorun" means automatically executing the program that is pointed to by the autorun info on the disk.
Obviously, "always autorun" is an invitation for trojans, see the Sony rootkit. As soon as you insert the disk, your computer gets infected. "Always autoplay" can be safe if the media player is guaranteed to only display things, not execute arbitrary code from the media file. Like a VB macro that has full access to the computer, to reuse the really bad example from Outlook a few years ago. Without that guarantee, "autoplay" is almost as dangerous as "autorun".
I can confirm that for the debugger in Delphi 6. It is quite convenient and correct most of the time, but on occasion it will simply give you wrong values. Then you need to (temporarily) code in a message dialog that displays the values. This will give you the correct numbers at the expense of a bit more work.
I think Vista's "always autoplay, never autorun" (if I got those names right) scheme works really well.
That's OK as long as you have safe media players and a solid distinction between "display only" and "contains arbitrary code" filetypes. I wouldn't really trust Microsoft to get that right. Even if they have removed the most embarrassing security holes they used to have in that area by now (several years ago you could send an e-mail with VB attachment to someone, and Outlook would execute that code without asking).
After watching the first three minutes, my impression is that
(1) Should be clearly in favor of Mr. Lessig. Nonprofit, political speech, should have pretty strong First Amendment protection. One can argue if he really needs the photos (see point 2), but the character of the use doesn't get much more fair.
(2) He uses photographs that are probably copyrighted as backdrops for his lecture
(3) Depends on the source(s) - many small samples or all from one source?
(4) I don't see how the use of some photos in this lecture can substantially hurt the sale of the original collections. Especially since the "subtitles" get in the way of reusing the photos from the lecture elsewhere.
I suspect lithium-ion batteries will be only a temporary solution. Because there is some research that promises an even better technology, the Sodium-ion Battery. The original article is on nature materials and costs $ to view, but this blog has an overview: http://entropyproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/sodium-ion-batteries.html
So if the electric car industry takes off in a big way, there will be enough money in making batteries that this technology should see serious research. My bet is that Lithium-ion will be rather popular in the medium term, but in the long term there will be something even better.
Good point, and this can be a problem for upstarts. But beyond a few thousand players per server, most established MMOs put up multiple shards, and the world is not more populated than if you have a newcomer with 10k subscribers, all on one server. The big exception I know is EvE Online. That MMO actually has all players on one server, often with more than 40,000 simultaneous log-ins.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually I tend to be a few months behind the latest releases myself, because I value reliability over having the very latest features. And a few months of BIOS and driver upgrades often make a difference.
My (desktop) machines are usually mid range in performance, with an eye on quality parts and moderate to low energy consumption. That means things like decent power supplies with 80+ percent efficiency, CPUs and GPUs with a power consumption of 70 watts each or less, and quality RAM with ECC.
For brands that do well in reviews which test robustness and reliability, I'm willing to pay a few euros more. In particular, that means power supplies and RAM, because both reviews and my own experience in those areas have shown there is real crap in the market.
Finally, there is one real lesson learned I'd like to pass on:
If possible, get GPUs and main boards with passive heat sinks (for the main board chipset). Or at least make sure there are aftermarket replacements available. The fans on those tend to be lousy quality and develop defective bearings after maybe a year, and getting a replacement that fits can be difficult (finding a CPU cooler is much easier, so I usually try the standard CPU cooler first and worry about alternatives later).
If this finds widespread use, it won't last long anyway: ;-)
The spambots will start keeping regular working hours
I'm more of a hobbyist, and have built half a dozen systems for myself over the years. Admittedly all of those were desktops where stuff is mostly standardized. So far I have no breakage from mistakes in assembling the machines. And no problems with the heat sink paste either ;-)
I had to replace a few fans or entire heatsinks when the bearings went bad, and in one case a mainboard/CPU combo. But all of those were bad components, which you can also get from buying a pre-made PC.
I'm not opposed to buying pre-made on principle, but I have rarely seen an offer where I liked all the components that were installed. If those were specified in detail at all.
The better office machines tend to have the quality components I want, but the GPU options often end one class below what I'm looking for. Besides, large vendors often use non-standard parts which will really limit your options for later upgrades. Compaq putting part of the BIOS onto the HD (around the year 2000) comes to mind. Or proprietary main board form factors. Bleh.
The pre-made machines for the home user tend to be built for maximum gaming performance, but without regard for reliability and energy efficiency. CPUs that eat 120 watts of power? Cheap no-name RAM (don't even think of ECC)? Bleh.
Unless you have money to burn or zero skill at assembling a PC yourself, I recommend putting together your own machine. You can get a comparable rig for much less money than an Alienware that way, even if you choose a nice designer case.
The lousy customer service is merely the icing on the cake.
...the strings will probably come in the form of some non-compete. You might not be able to get the money without agreeing to a non-compete, but make sure it is clearly limited in scope and duration.
For negotiating the exact terms, parent's advice of hiring a lawyer is probably a good idea.
If you decide in favor, make certain the process moves as quickly as possible. Make sure you have put in place -- before taking each and every step -- provisions for backing out (at no cost to you). At the slightest sign of foot-dragging, stop the process and pull out.
Alternatively, demand a large enough fixed sum that $Megacorp has to pay you as soon as the contract is signed. So even if they drag their feet, you got your profit from the deal.
This also protect you against the scenario whre they hire you first to get your technology, then fire you under some pretext.
Sure. Half of the pirates don't even want it for free. Does not necessarily means the copy protection is better. ;-)
For the average person who got the OS with the computer, activation problems means that Microsoft has NOT gotten Anti-Piracy to work right. Legitimate users should not be bothered by the system.
If that happens anyway, I guess it will happen across the board, for people with and without solid computer knowledge. Most of them (your "average person") might believe it was their own mistake, but a few will say goodbye to Windows. But overall, I expect the numbers to be small in this category.
The interesting question is "what happens with the freeloaders if they cannot pirate Windows 7". Lets assume Microsoft comes up with something really hard to crack. It follows that
1) some will pay up for Windows 7
2) many will install XP instead (plenty of hacked versions and pirated Corporate Editions in the wild)
3) some will say goodbye to Windows as above.
1) is what Microsoft obviously wants.
2) is sort of what happens right now, but for other reasons (People prefer XP over Vista). Microsoft won't like it, but it will not make their situation worse.
3) hurts Microsoft's market share, other OS will gain some more visibility.
My guess:
Microsoft gains some money from 1) but 3) will hurt them more in the long run.
And it's only recently that the pile of compatibility hacks and inability to make fundamental design decisions has caught up to MS and been harming them from the market's point of view.
In my own experience as software developer, you can get away with compatibility hacks for a few years, but eventually the inherited design limitations and the complexity from managing the workarounds will kill you.
That Microsoft has managed it for about 15 years now with the Windows NT product line (on which Vista and Windows 7 are still based) is quite an achievement and shows that they have some pretty smart developers.
But I agree that it has reached the point where it has become a major liability. Some of the workarounds in Vista with redirecting file access (to protect the "C:\Programs" path but still run applications that write into the installation folder) look positively crazy.
By other accounts, Windows 7 is fast when it has plenty of RAM. Sometimes even faster than XP. But it is still a memory hog.
In http://www.itwire.com/content/view/24805/1231/ (linked in a previous Slashdot article), the author claims (emphasis mine)
Upon logging in, and without any other programs installed or running, 7.73GB of the hard drive was used already. On a roomy 160GB hard drive that's not a problem but if your netbook uses a solid state hard disk then space may be more of a premium.
The task manager's performance tab showed 33 processes running and 465MB of RAM - or about 45% - in use while sitting idle.
My conclusion is that it will be fine with 2 GB RAM or more, but anyone with less memory will still be unhappy. On the other hand, some old Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon (32 bit) might still run fine if you add a bit of RAM (cheap these days).
Joe Sixpack will, of course, use what is pre-installed and that alone will help Windows 7 to become the dominant Windows version eventually.
From corporate IT I expect less resistance this time as Windows 7 actually seems to be a halfway decent system.
And some people who really hate DRM (like me) will stick to XP as long as possible, then switch to Linux.
The hardware is actually not that expensive (anymore). Checking my preferred mail order shop for computer stuff:
Windows 7 needs at worst one GB RAM more than XP, and that amounts to 15-20 euros, assuming quality RAM. Harddisk space is so cheap that the difference costs maybe one euro in HD space (OK it's more with a SSD).
The real problem of Vista was the abysmal user experience, and according to all tests so far Windows 7 will fix that. So I expect it to do well on new PCs with 2 GB RAM or more. Netbooks and ultra-cheap machines with only one GB RAM will remain a problem.
Vista and Windows 7 use a lot of RAM for caching so that your computer is faster. It's not using more RAM just to annoy you. After all, you PAID for that RAM, so why not actually use it to speed up your system? If an application needs lots of RAM and you're running short on physical RAM, it will free up that RAM and make it available for use by other applications automatically so you haven't lost anything.
If you're that bothered - just stick with Windows 98 which doesn't do any of this stuff.
You might have problems finding Win 98 drivers for new hardware these days. The same goes for Windows 2000 by the way. I actually tried running a relatively new dual core PC under Windows 2000, with a mix of (outdated) Windows 2000 drivers and XP drivers. But the system was never quite stable.
A switch to XP solved those problems, and it is also what I'd recommend for every netbook owner who does not want to go Linux right away. XP is still well supported, and it uses MUCH less RAM than Vista/Windows 7.
At an earlier point in TFA, the author states (emphasis mine)
Upon logging in, and without any other programs installed or running, 7.73GB of the hard drive was used already. On a roomy 160GB hard drive that's not a problem but if your netbook uses a solid state hard disk then space may be more of a premium.
The task manager's performance tab showed 33 processes running and 465MB of RAM - or about 45% - in use while sitting idle. While nearly half the RAM being consumed without actually doing anything useful may be concerning it's not actually a big deal. Microsoft claim that Windows 7 (and Vista too, but its success is arguable) pre-loads parts of programs it expects you to use.
So the 465MB of RAM actually seem to be the consumption of Windows 7, because there were no applications besides the OS installed that could be preloaded. The rest obviously is the fault of Office 2007. Which is also a lot more than I'd expect from an office application.
For comparison:
Right now, I'm running Windows XP SP3, have several SeaMonkey(Browser) windows open and I have started Open Office with a small text document. Memory usage according to Task Manager:
- Total 365 MB
- SeaMonkey about 120 MB
- Open Office around 60 MB.
- a few MB for AVG Antivirus, split into several processes.
That leaves maybe 180 MB Windows XP is using for its own services.
Other tests have claimed that Windows 7 with plenty of RAM is just as fast as XP, sometimes better. But the fact remains that it is still a memory hog.
The German C't computer magazine numbers recently published the following statistics for its website:
- Windows XP 55.5 percent of page impressions
- Windows Vista 14.4 percent
- Linux 14.8 percent
- Mac OS 7.7 percent
The profile for this site is some combination of "IT worker / developer / computer hobbyist". Obviously "geeky" sites attract more users of non-Microsoft systems. In this case Linux usage even exceeds Mac OS.
Also interesting is the breakdown of Windows by version:
Netcraft has 62.21% for XP and 23.90% for Vista, that makes 2.6 XP users per Vista user.
The above numbers from the C't website show 3.85 XP users per Vista user.
Obviously the C't readership dislikes Vista even more than the bulk of the market.
Actually XP Professional needs activation too. But some large corporations had the same concerns about being locked out, and Microsoft gave in and created the "Corporate Edition" for them.
This version does not require activation and is not sold to private users. Of course, some employees at those companies copied the "Corporate Edition" and it got into the usual "black" distribution channels. Which means that once more the software pirates got the better product than the honest user...
The geek's obsession with activation can be really puzzling to others. ;-)
We geeks have a strong aversion against giving up control of our toys
That includes wanting to reinstall the OS when we feel like it, without asking someone for permission. And the typical geek does this more frequently than every 8 years.
I can confirm that Windows 2000 was quite popular in corporate environments. But it had no cheap "Home" version, so GP may have gotten the impression that it was unsuccessful from not seeing much Windows 2000 use on home PCs.
But even in that environment, some people happily pirated and used it. Of course, the same people also have no qualms about pirating XP, and by now hardware vendors often don't bother with Windows 2000 drivers anymore. Which makes the Windows XP Corporate Edition more desirable these days, as it is activation free like Windows 2000 and still has good driver support ;-)
As you already pointed out, the final MMORPG usually changes things or introduces completely new elements to balance the game. At this point, the original IP does not really explain the changed world anymore.
Besides, a huge amount of drivel is not necessary to explain the background. One page of text per faction will do, and the details of gameplay need explaining anyway, even with existing IP. If you have a passable author that will write a lengthy background story, fine, but that is strictly optional.
But the main reason I prefer games based on original concepts is that they tend to be more original in terms of gameplay too. My impression is that games based on existing IP usually try to emulate that world by tailoring some existing genre to more or less fit the IP. Without doing more than the balance changes mentioned above.
Really original games tend to revolve around their innovation and make the background story match that. If they bother at all. For instance Doom, which was innovative by being one of the first FPS - the background story essentially was "Marine, we have lost control with the mars base. Go and clear it out!".
As I understand it,
-"autoplay" means automatically starting the media player for the file type found on the medium you just inserted
-"autorun" means automatically executing the program that is pointed to by the autorun info on the disk.
Obviously, "always autorun" is an invitation for trojans, see the Sony rootkit. As soon as you insert the disk, your computer gets infected.
"Always autoplay" can be safe if the media player is guaranteed to only display things, not execute arbitrary code from the media file. Like a VB macro that has full access to the computer, to reuse the really bad example from Outlook a few years ago. Without that guarantee, "autoplay" is almost as dangerous as "autorun".
I can confirm that for the debugger in Delphi 6. It is quite convenient and correct most of the time, but on occasion it will simply give you wrong values. Then you need to (temporarily) code in a message dialog that displays the values. This will give you the correct numbers at the expense of a bit more work.
I think Vista's "always autoplay, never autorun" (if I got those names right) scheme works really well.
That's OK as long as you have safe media players and a solid distinction between "display only" and "contains arbitrary code" filetypes. I wouldn't really trust Microsoft to get that right. Even if they have removed the most embarrassing security holes they used to have in that area by now (several years ago you could send an e-mail with VB attachment to someone, and Outlook would execute that code without asking).
According to TFA, the presentation has been reposted here: http://blip.tv/file/1937322
After watching the first three minutes, my impression is that
(1) Should be clearly in favor of Mr. Lessig. Nonprofit, political speech, should have pretty strong First Amendment protection. One can argue if he really needs the photos (see point 2), but the character of the use doesn't get much more fair.
(2) He uses photographs that are probably copyrighted as backdrops for his lecture
(3) Depends on the source(s) - many small samples or all from one source?
(4) I don't see how the use of some photos in this lecture can substantially hurt the sale of the original collections. Especially since the "subtitles" get in the way of reusing the photos from the lecture elsewhere.
What about wool from sheep or other animals? That might be cheaper...
I suspect lithium-ion batteries will be only a temporary solution. Because there is some research that promises an even better technology, the Sodium-ion Battery. The original article is on nature materials and costs $ to view, but this blog has an overview:
http://entropyproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/sodium-ion-batteries.html
So if the electric car industry takes off in a big way, there will be enough money in making batteries that this technology should see serious research. My bet is that Lithium-ion will be rather popular in the medium term, but in the long term there will be something even better.
Good point, and this can be a problem for upstarts. But beyond a few thousand players per server, most established MMOs put up multiple shards, and the world is not more populated than if you have a newcomer with 10k subscribers, all on one server.
The big exception I know is EvE Online. That MMO actually has all players on one server, often with more than 40,000 simultaneous log-ins.