Easier said than done. when the major PC manufacturers are locked in to including Windows with their retail systems, this essentially forces a dangerous product on an unwitting public. Granted, these are the same folks that have made AOL the largest ISP on the planet, but they deserve the protection the FTC can afford them.
The strongest call to action I found in the letter:
Begin an investigation to determine whether Passport complies with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
Ain't no way Passport does age verification. This is a pretty strong piece of legislation that has caused several software companies to back off similar registration schemes.
Where the hell can you get 8 Mbps/1 Mbps for $40 a month?!
Speakeasy, the last decent Boston-area DSL provider, charges $299 a month for 1.5Mbps/1.5Mbps SDSL. That ain't chump change
My guess: Sprint actually figured out that providing that much local bandwidth was going to cost WAY too much to add enough backbone bandwidth to support a widespread rollout, so killed it. Simple economics.
Indeed, I remember the TS/1000 well. Wrote some games in BASIC (Space Invaders and Breakout clones) back in the day as well. I was lucky in that I got a later version that came as an all-in-one steel box, with "real" keys instead of the membrane one. My typing speed probably tripled.
If the record companies had kept Napster running at full tilt as a honeypot to keep all the users attracted, then just started charging a couple bucks and improved the service with the income, I'd still be using Napster. But they made it suck, so there was incentive to develop competing services, and now the market is fractured. Sure Napster could become popular again, but will it ever see the 80-90% market share it did before? Already the service is seeing a 47% decrease in logins.
Indeed, Napster's current filtered-to-the-hilt incarnation is awful and unusuable. However, users will forget about how sucky it is now if the content is improved. The installed base of Napster P2P clients is still way up there (have you uninstalled it yet? I sure haven't - it just sits there waiting for the service to not suck).
To make an analogy to television, the major networks often put out garbage programming, which is just as often rejected by the viewers. We forget that NBC once fielded genius programming like "The Montefuscos" in the same time slot that "Friends" runs in today. Once the crap is gone, viewers/users/consumers run back for what they want *
Thus, Napster can reclaim its former glory. The service has to be what the users want: flat-fee, unlimited access to all other user libraries. Track the usage, pay the royalties, and we'll all be happy
* Not to say that "Friends" doesn't suck, but it's popular
My copy of Easy Cd Creator 4.0 Deluxe works just fine and I have no intentions of upgrading
And Roxio's made not wanting to upgrade a bit easier. Easy CD Creator 5.0 (their first release since taking over from Adaptec) is easily the worst piece of Win32 software I've installed in months, if not years. It simply fails to do its job (recording data on to a CD-R/CD-RW) with astonishing regularity.
Remember when the OpenGL patch was released for the original Quake? This opened the floodgates wide to Linux-based game development using an open library. This is where we should be leaning our efforts. I certainly plan to buy games that natively support either Linux (2.2 or 2.4) and Win32 simultaneously, no hacks involved. We can always vote with our wallets, right?
IOW, game developers should be working in languages that are already universally accepted and available for multiple platforms. This isn't to knock the fine work of the WineX folks, but to build hacks into the system ain't a good way to spread the love.
My company uses Lotus Sametime (client version 1.5, although most of the componants are stamped with a version number around 3.0 - go figure) for its internal IM client, and it definitely supports the AIM messaging standard. There's no secure channel chat when using the client to talk to folks on AIM, but it works just fine. It even lets you separate user lists into Sametime users and AIM users. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but it works fine for chat.
Interestingly, since I've seen other 3rd-party clients getting kicked off of AIM, Sametime doesn't get kicked. I'd expect Lotus has actually licensed from AOL their protocol, and is allowed to include support for it in their client. Digging around, I've found no details on any licensing of the AIM protocol/servers to Lotus by AOL, but that's gotta be it.
Offtopic, but related to this software by name: in nature, a bonobo is a primate, similar to a chimpanzee, although somewhat smaller. They are generally regarded as quite intelligent (not quite chips, but up there), with strong social interaction among groups.
For those looking for hot jungle pr0n in this article, here you go. Scientific study of these primates in the wild has shown that they are exceptionally sexual in nature. Bonobos have engage in masturbation frequently, swing both ways (hetero and homosexual encounters among males and females), and perform oral sex. Ironically, it's this casual approach to sex that some scientists believe, for bonobos, dulls the normal "sex for procreation - NOW!" drive that most species have. Consequently, they are an endangered species
Here's an interesting link I found searching on Google concerning these randy little buggers.
Why the developers chose to name their software after the bonobo...well, I dunno. Maybe horny monkeys are funny.
The University of Minnesota seems to be a pretty large institution, with decent resources. I believe they hold the strings on HTTP's predecessor, gopher. Let's get them to countersue British Telecom over their garbage "we invented hyperlinks, really!" patent.
...so large, in fact, that I buy OC-3 connections from them in several areas of the United States. It costs me many dollars per huge leased circuit from a servicing telco, plus "ISP" charges from UUNet, plus bandwidth charges from UUNet. I also buy similarly large circuits from other providers.
Let's also say that these links aren't just used for my employees to surf the web, but also for other Net users to pull down trialware, patches, and other such nicieties from my various geographically dispersed FTP/web servers. Thus, my inbound/outbound traffic ratios are roughly at a 1.5:1 ratio. I'm not an ISP, but perhaps a good-sized content provider, like Yahoo or Lycos.
Thus, the question: When do I get to stop being a customer of UUNet, and become a free-exchange peer? How do I flip that switch and save myself a lot of cash? Will UUNet prevent me from doing so? After all, I'm likely worth much more to them as a customer than as a peer.
I'm using CSW's MovieWorks 308 package, a surprisingly powerful set of speakers and powered subwoofer. While I'm heavily familiar with PC audio, this is the first time I've ever set up a real audio system in my apartment. Driven by a Philips FR970 receiver (50 watts per speaker), the 5.1 setup works really nicely. I'm using standard RCA cabling from my.
Altogether, the system runs about $750, with the speakers about $400, and the reciever about $350. CSW also packages their speakers with good receivers fron Sony and Onkyo, although I was more interested in keeping my homogeneous all-Philips devices theme in place.
Slashdot Mirror
Begin an investigation to determine whether Passport complies with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
Ain't no way Passport does age verification. This is a pretty strong piece of legislation that has caused several software companies to back off similar registration schemes.
I can see it now: you record your games of Team Tekken (for the PST3), and then play against yourself on the playback. Who needs friends?!
Speakeasy, the last decent Boston-area DSL provider, charges $299 a month for 1.5Mbps/1.5Mbps SDSL. That ain't chump change
My guess: Sprint actually figured out that providing that much local bandwidth was going to cost WAY too much to add enough backbone bandwidth to support a widespread rollout, so killed it. Simple economics.
As a Boston-area resident, I'd like to suggest that this choice of sound wouldn't work for us:
"Hey paahl, gahhhttah go pahhk my caah." *CD skips 4 tracks*
You'd figure the guy works for a New England university, he might've picked up on that. How about "y'all" instead?
You've got to be kidding me. There's an astronomer named "Telesco"? I'm surprised they didn't interview a chemist named Fred Hydrocarbo.
Zeke (to camera): I jus' HATE these damn furiners coming up here to OUR space station.
Ivan (to camera): Thees ee-mericans are starting to pees me ov! Thees place ees much better than our flet in da Mir. Whiny pig-dogs!
*cue Smashmouth cover of "Why Can't We Be Friends"* as the roomies chug pitchers of Tang and vodka together to get comfortable
You are in a series of twisty, turning tunnels, all alike
Damn, they really DID update GCC.
Indeed, Napster's current filtered-to-the-hilt incarnation is awful and unusuable. However, users will forget about how sucky it is now if the content is improved. The installed base of Napster P2P clients is still way up there (have you uninstalled it yet? I sure haven't - it just sits there waiting for the service to not suck).
To make an analogy to television, the major networks often put out garbage programming, which is just as often rejected by the viewers. We forget that NBC once fielded genius programming like "The Montefuscos" in the same time slot that "Friends" runs in today. Once the crap is gone, viewers/users/consumers run back for what they want *
Thus, Napster can reclaim its former glory. The service has to be what the users want: flat-fee, unlimited access to all other user libraries. Track the usage, pay the royalties, and we'll all be happy
* Not to say that "Friends" doesn't suck, but it's popular
My copy of Easy Cd Creator 4.0 Deluxe works just fine and I have no intentions of upgrading
And Roxio's made not wanting to upgrade a bit easier. Easy CD Creator 5.0 (their first release since taking over from Adaptec) is easily the worst piece of Win32 software I've installed in months, if not years. It simply fails to do its job (recording data on to a CD-R/CD-RW) with astonishing regularity.
Add-Remove, Reinstall 4.0...ah, that's better
Regression testing, my ass!
IOW, game developers should be working in languages that are already universally accepted and available for multiple platforms. This isn't to knock the fine work of the WineX folks, but to build hacks into the system ain't a good way to spread the love.
RW
Unfortunately, we have to stop this discussion now. We've been Godwinned!
RW
My company uses Lotus Sametime (client version 1.5, although most of the componants are stamped with a version number around 3.0 - go figure) for its internal IM client, and it definitely supports the AIM messaging standard. There's no secure channel chat when using the client to talk to folks on AIM, but it works just fine. It even lets you separate user lists into Sametime users and AIM users. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but it works fine for chat.
Interestingly, since I've seen other 3rd-party clients getting kicked off of AIM, Sametime doesn't get kicked. I'd expect Lotus has actually licensed from AOL their protocol, and is allowed to include support for it in their client. Digging around, I've found no details on any licensing of the AIM protocol/servers to Lotus by AOL, but that's gotta be it.
RW
For those looking for hot jungle pr0n in this article, here you go. Scientific study of these primates in the wild has shown that they are exceptionally sexual in nature. Bonobos have engage in masturbation frequently, swing both ways (hetero and homosexual encounters among males and females), and perform oral sex. Ironically, it's this casual approach to sex that some scientists believe, for bonobos, dulls the normal "sex for procreation - NOW!" drive that most species have. Consequently, they are an endangered species
Here's an interesting link I found searching on Google concerning these randy little buggers.
Why the developers chose to name their software after the bonobo...well, I dunno. Maybe horny monkeys are funny.
RW
The University of Minnesota seems to be a pretty large institution, with decent resources. I believe they hold the strings on HTTP's predecessor, gopher. Let's get them to countersue British Telecom over their garbage "we invented hyperlinks, really!" patent.
Let's also say that these links aren't just used for my employees to surf the web, but also for other Net users to pull down trialware, patches, and other such nicieties from my various geographically dispersed FTP/web servers. Thus, my inbound/outbound traffic ratios are roughly at a 1.5:1 ratio. I'm not an ISP, but perhaps a good-sized content provider, like Yahoo or Lycos.
Thus, the question: When do I get to stop being a customer of UUNet, and become a free-exchange peer? How do I flip that switch and save myself a lot of cash? Will UUNet prevent me from doing so? After all, I'm likely worth much more to them as a customer than as a peer.
Just some food for thought. *munch munch*
Altogether, the system runs about $750, with the speakers about $400, and the reciever about $350. CSW also packages their speakers with good receivers fron Sony and Onkyo, although I was more interested in keeping my homogeneous all-Philips devices theme in place.