Atari's v2 of the Lynx included a toggle-able backlight.
So, you had the choice of extending your battery life or actually seeing the screen.:)
Of course, by that point they were nearly broke and had no money left to market that or the Jaguar... shame, the Lynx was a nifty little machine (I currently own 3, and about 40 games, and I'm always looking for the rest of the games -- with about 65-70 released a complete set isn't too far away.)
I've just noticed a bug in light mode -- when you only have 'old messages' the link around that message (on the index page) extends to the next line (left off an ? ) This doesn't occur when you have both new and old messages.
Only cosmetic, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.:)
I guess I still don't understand Slashdot moderation. How can something be both a '4' and a 'troll'?
Modded up to 5 by other users, but the most recent moderator chose 'Troll', reducing the score to 4 and ensuring that word would be placed next to the score.
I fully agree with the point that you have to have a good plot, not just CG for its own sake. But while I loved Toy Story and Bug's Life, I thought that Shrek was in fact the poster child of CG for its own sake, with no redeeming plot. If you got rid of the fancy graphics, it's just a totally basic fantasy movie with a plot that is obvious in the first five minutes.
I agree with you, absolutely. The script was shallow, rude and referenced non-fantastic elements way too much (Tag Team Professional Wrestling, for example? Way to kill the atmosphere...). All of that rock music blaring out during the film.... I liked the concept of being overrun by Disney characters, but apart from that sequence the plot bored me, and all of the main characters annoyed me. Add to that fart and smell jokes, and other examples of high wit, and I'm afraid I walked out feeling pretty damn cheapened...
The CGI was brilliant, although I do prefer the visual look of the Pixar films. Probably just bias on my part, though.
I've seen all of the Pixar films (just saw Monsters Inc. tonight:) and also saw Final Fantasy and Shrek (missed Antz though). One thing I can say about the Pixar films is that there are always multiple things to look for; visual clues in the background, minor characters doing their thing out of focus, etc...
Re:Apple started the PDA
on
Apple PDA?
·
· Score: 2
The reason Xerox hasn't sued, and won't sue Apple, is that Xerox made a boatload of money on Apple stock. They bought in pre-IPO, and made hundreds of millions on their investment over the years. Everything Apple ever used that came from PARC was used with Xerox's blessing.
Additionally, I think that Xerox's opportunity to buy into Apple pre-IPO was part of a trade for the license to use the Xerox GUI patents.
I'd be interested to know how many other GUIs out there, and the companies responsible for them, actually went that far -- MS are probably safe, simply due to the amount of companies & IP they've ingested over the years:); they could probably have hunted through their portfolio and found something relevant. Other companies, like CBM and Atari for example, may not have been overly careful...
<SARCASM>Act now! Avoid the rush! You too can distribute a personalized Linux kernel -- with your OWN INITIALS tacked on to the end!</SARCASM>
What with the recently defunct (?) 2.4.x-ac, the new 2.4.y-mjc, the merged 2.5.z-dj, and also the 2.a.b-aa and others (not forgetting the 'official' kernel), this is getting a bit confusing!
For something like this (-mjc) I'd most likely find it easier to track the particular patches I need for my system, as someone else is unlikely to replicate my exact setup. It's the same reason I compile my kernel in the first place, instead of blindly accepting the distro default.
Is the likely usage of this branch worth the effort of maintaining it? I guess that's up to the maintainer to decide...
Did it ever occur to you people that these residential broadband connections for $40 might actually have some controls on them?
Did it ever occur to you that the Australian telecommunications market is dominated by an ex-wholly-Government-owned (and still 51% in public hands) corporation which continually jacks up its prices yet returns none of this revenue in tax dollars or as increased benefits to its customers? No crunch time there -- except for the current CEO, whose institutional shareholders aren't happy with soaking the Australian public, but think they should have similar powers over most of Asia as well. They won't have any luck there, I'm afraid...
US$40/month -- you'd be lucky to get a severely limited connection for that much here. Last I saw unmetered broadband here was running A$800 a month, and that was pretty slow and from a company at the, erm, "dodgier" end of the market.
What we really need is more Albert Einsteins working in the Patent Office!
Albert may have been a great physicist -- but are there any records of his performance in the patent office? Surely if he was spending all day with his head off in the clouds dreaming about cosmological constants and the like, he must have let a few bloopers slip by...
In case those abroad know little of BT's history: it used to be a national monopoly and the entire country's telecommunication infrastructure was laid at taxpayers expense. Hence in opening the telecoms market to competition it is felt that rival companies should have the same benefits the ex-monopoly has to level the playing field*. Naturally BT are pulling every legal and obstructive trick in the book to frustrate this process.
Sounds a lot like Australian Telecom -> Telecom Australia -> Telstra. Half-privatized (well, 49%) now, and still as big and nasty a monopoly as ever they were...
Ah, so they *do* exist then... and I thought Python were just kidding...
A: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
B: Well, I was told outside that...
A: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
B: What?
A: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, malodorous, pervert!!!
B: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
A: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
B: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
A: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
B: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
A: Not at all.
B: Thank You.
A:(Under his breath) Stupid git!!
Ummm... try running ldconfig again as root. This will regenerate the ld.so.cache file, which stores all of the libraries' linking details.
That's the only help I can offer -- I'm only a user as well, I ain't got no serious Debian mojo going on:)
(Maybe you'd need to downgrade zgv as well? I don't know about that. Probably not... but if the above fails then give it a try.)
Let me know how you get on -- if it works I might downgrade as well:) (The commenting things out in ld.so.conf worked for me, and zgv didn't segfault -- there's one segfaulting bug in the BTS against zgv that was blamed on svgalib as well, so maybe you ran into that.)
I managed to fix this by commenting out/usr/lib/libc5-compat and/lib/libc5-compat
in/etc/ld.so.conf, and then re-running ldconfig (all this as root).
Of course, if I find anything on my box that's been linked against libc5, I'll run into problems -- but I've been fine so far. Hopefully this is just a problem with the svgalib packages that will be fixed by a recompile.
There's probably a better solution, but I couldn't find it:)
Actually, I have heard in the SF Fandom grapevine that most of these "Written after Death" novels were written by various SF writers still in thrall to Scientology, and published under the name of L. Ron Hubbard to try and create a decent literary legacy. All they did was tarnish it.
And. considering the work he wrote when he was alive, the fact that they still managed to tarnish his reputation says much about their (lack of) literary talent.
Or maybe they're some sort of fifth columnists, working to destroy the Co$ from the inside?:)
Sorry, I'm rushed for time, and you raise a lot of good points. Maybe I can address them tomorrow:)
Dick deserves the "blame" for that letter as much as he deserves the "credit" for everything else he wrote during the time that he was insane. If you don't hold him responsible for that letter, you can't hold him responsible for the other stories he wrote, either. I think he deserves credit for everything he wrote.
It's not about diminshed responsibility -- however I do think that different standards of "blame" and "credit" do apply. Or maybe not. Insanity is a slippery concept -- who's to say what sane is anyway?
I think it's largely about choice, and the idea that a 'sane' PKD would not, or might not, have chosen to write and send a letter like that. Of course, he did, and has to wear the consequences -- this is just a point where I start grappling with various ethical issues...
As I said, no time. Can I grab your email address from the site listed in your bio and email you about this stuff directly in the next couple of days?
Wasn't 1974 when Phil was going through his craziest times, writing furiously on the Exegesis, etc? Someone stole my PKD biography, otherwise I'd check, but I'm pretty sure the man was clinically insane at the time! I think it's a bit harsh to be blaming him for this even 19 years after his death...
Slashdot Mirror
Atari's v2 of the Lynx included a toggle-able backlight.
:)
So, you had the choice of extending your battery life or actually seeing the screen.
Of course, by that point they were nearly broke and had no money left to market that or the Jaguar... shame, the Lynx was a nifty little machine (I currently own 3, and about 40 games, and I'm always looking for the rest of the games -- with about 65-70 released a complete set isn't too far away.)
Well, I just checked out my fans page:
:)
Your fans
You are either loved by all or just invisible.
I'm not sure which I'd prefer -- being loved by all would be great, sure, but I can think of some pretty cool things I could do if I were invisible
An open-source server administered by JMS, to make sure that all ping statistics are free.
Did you mean RMS there? JMS wrote/directed/produced Babylon 5 (and probably made the coffee for everyone on set as well...)
:)
I've just noticed a bug in light mode -- when you only have 'old messages' the link around that message (on the index page) extends to the next line (left off an ? ) This doesn't occur when you have both new and old messages.
:)
Only cosmetic, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
I guess I still don't understand Slashdot moderation. How can something be both a '4' and a 'troll'?
Modded up to 5 by other users, but the most recent moderator chose 'Troll', reducing the score to 4 and ensuring that word would be placed next to the score.
What's going to be in place to stop me from claiming I own "Who Let The Dogs Out".
:)
Out here in the big wide world, we (and most importantly, at least for them, the RIAA) have these things called "lawyers".
What industry or industries will benefit from an increased use of CGI characters?
Politics.
After all, people are used to voting for something that has been projected onto them.
If it worked for Ronald Reagan, it can work for Woody from Toy Story!
I fully agree with the point that you have to have a good plot, not just CG for its own sake. But while I loved Toy Story and Bug's Life, I thought that Shrek was in fact the poster child of CG for its own sake, with no redeeming plot. If you got rid of the fancy graphics, it's just a totally basic fantasy movie with a plot that is obvious in the first five minutes.
:) and also saw Final Fantasy and Shrek (missed Antz though). One thing I can say about the Pixar films is that there are always multiple things to look for; visual clues in the background, minor characters doing their thing out of focus, etc...
I agree with you, absolutely. The script was shallow, rude and referenced non-fantastic elements way too much (Tag Team Professional Wrestling, for example? Way to kill the atmosphere...). All of that rock music blaring out during the film.... I liked the concept of being overrun by Disney characters, but apart from that sequence the plot bored me, and all of the main characters annoyed me. Add to that fart and smell jokes, and other examples of high wit, and I'm afraid I walked out feeling pretty damn cheapened...
The CGI was brilliant, although I do prefer the visual look of the Pixar films. Probably just bias on my part, though.
I've seen all of the Pixar films (just saw Monsters Inc. tonight
The reason Xerox hasn't sued, and won't sue Apple, is that Xerox made a boatload of money on Apple stock. They bought in pre-IPO, and made hundreds of millions on their investment over the years. Everything Apple ever used that came from PARC was used with Xerox's blessing.
:); they could probably have hunted through their portfolio and found something relevant. Other companies, like CBM and Atari for example, may not have been overly careful...
Additionally, I think that Xerox's opportunity to buy into Apple pre-IPO was part of a trade for the license to use the Xerox GUI patents.
I'd be interested to know how many other GUIs out there, and the companies responsible for them, actually went that far -- MS are probably safe, simply due to the amount of companies & IP they've ingested over the years
<SARCASM>Act now! Avoid the rush! You too can distribute a personalized Linux kernel -- with your OWN INITIALS tacked on to the end!</SARCASM>
What with the recently defunct (?) 2.4.x-ac, the new 2.4.y-mjc, the merged 2.5.z-dj, and also the 2.a.b-aa and others (not forgetting the 'official' kernel), this is getting a bit confusing!
For something like this (-mjc) I'd most likely find it easier to track the particular patches I need for my system, as someone else is unlikely to replicate my exact setup. It's the same reason I compile my kernel in the first place, instead of blindly accepting the distro default.
Is the likely usage of this branch worth the effort of maintaining it? I guess that's up to the maintainer to decide...
Did it ever occur to you people that these residential broadband connections for $40 might actually have some controls on them?
Did it ever occur to you that the Australian telecommunications market is dominated by an ex-wholly-Government-owned (and still 51% in public hands) corporation which continually jacks up its prices yet returns none of this revenue in tax dollars or as increased benefits to its customers? No crunch time there -- except for the current CEO, whose institutional shareholders aren't happy with soaking the Australian public, but think they should have similar powers over most of Asia as well. They won't have any luck there, I'm afraid...
US$40/month -- you'd be lucky to get a severely limited connection for that much here. Last I saw unmetered broadband here was running A$800 a month, and that was pretty slow and from a company at the, erm, "dodgier" end of the market.
software so sophisticated it puts Microsoft to shame
:)
That part's not so difficult. I have games on my Commodore 64 that put Microsoft to shame.
Or with what.
:/
What we really need is more Albert Einsteins working in the Patent Office!
:)
Albert may have been a great physicist -- but are there any records of his performance in the patent office? Surely if he was spending all day with his head off in the clouds dreaming about cosmological constants and the like, he must have let a few bloopers slip by...
Probably nothing this bad, though
In case those abroad know little of BT's history: it used to be a national monopoly and the entire country's telecommunication infrastructure was laid at taxpayers expense. Hence in opening the telecoms market to competition it is felt that rival companies should have the same benefits the ex-monopoly has to level the playing field*. Naturally BT are pulling every legal and obstructive trick in the book to frustrate this process.
Sounds a lot like Australian Telecom -> Telecom Australia -> Telstra. Half-privatized (well, 49%) now, and still as big and nasty a monopoly as ever they were...
Ah, so they *do* exist then... and I thought Python were just kidding...
A: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
B: Well, I was told outside that...
A: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
B: What?
A: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, malodorous, pervert!!!
B: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
A: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
B: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
A: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
B: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
A: Not at all.
B: Thank You.
A:(Under his breath) Stupid git!!
Ummm... try running ldconfig again as root. This will regenerate the ld.so.cache file, which stores all of the libraries' linking details.
:)
:) (The commenting things out in ld.so.conf worked for me, and zgv didn't segfault -- there's one segfaulting bug in the BTS against zgv that was blamed on svgalib as well, so maybe you ran into that.)
That's the only help I can offer -- I'm only a user as well, I ain't got no serious Debian mojo going on
(Maybe you'd need to downgrade zgv as well? I don't know about that. Probably not... but if the above fails then give it a try.)
Let me know how you get on -- if it works I might downgrade as well
BTW, maybe try a couple of other packages that use svgalib and see if the problem is there or in zgv. If they act up as well, zgv is not to blame :)
Well, at least it's in the BTS now -- #121142.
The only solution at the moment is to downgrade -- and it seems like a linking problem (linked with libc6 instead of libc5 on compile).
As long as they remember that not everyone lives in the Northern Hemisphere. DST *started* down here about a month ago... :)
This happened to me after an apt-get upgrade last week:
/usr/lib/libc5-compat/libvga.so.1: undefined symbol: _xstat
/usr/lib/libc5-compat and /lib/libc5-compat
/etc/ld.so.conf, and then re-running ldconfig (all this as root).
:)
zgv: relocation error:
I managed to fix this by commenting out
in
Of course, if I find anything on my box that's been linked against libc5, I'll run into problems -- but I've been fine so far. Hopefully this is just a problem with the svgalib packages that will be fixed by a recompile.
There's probably a better solution, but I couldn't find it
How does it compare to Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
?
(BTW, that IMDB search just showed up a remake in production. There ain't no justice...)
Actually, I have heard in the SF Fandom grapevine that most of these "Written after Death" novels were written by various SF writers still in thrall to Scientology, and published under the name of L. Ron Hubbard to try and create a decent literary legacy. All they did was tarnish it.
:)
And. considering the work he wrote when he was alive, the fact that they still managed to tarnish his reputation says much about their (lack of) literary talent.
Or maybe they're some sort of fifth columnists, working to destroy the Co$ from the inside?
Sorry, I'm rushed for time, and you raise a lot of good points. Maybe I can address them tomorrow :)
Dick deserves the "blame" for that letter as much as he deserves the "credit" for everything else he wrote during the time that he was insane. If you don't hold him responsible for that letter, you can't hold him responsible for the other stories he wrote, either. I think he deserves credit for everything he wrote.
It's not about diminshed responsibility -- however I do think that different standards of "blame" and "credit" do apply. Or maybe not. Insanity is a slippery concept -- who's to say what sane is anyway?
I think it's largely about choice, and the idea that a 'sane' PKD would not, or might not, have chosen to write and send a letter like that. Of course, he did, and has to wear the consequences -- this is just a point where I start grappling with various ethical issues...
As I said, no time. Can I grab your email address from the site listed in your bio and email you about this stuff directly in the next couple of days?
Philip K. Dick to the FBI, September 2, 1974
Wasn't 1974 when Phil was going through his craziest times, writing furiously on the Exegesis, etc? Someone stole my PKD biography, otherwise I'd check, but I'm pretty sure the man was clinically insane at the time! I think it's a bit harsh to be blaming him for this even 19 years after his death...