The only game I would've even thought of justifying signing up for The Zone for would be AOE2, but since I never got around to it over the past year and a half (CS, B&W, and now Civ3 are just so much better!), I guess I'll just play it during LAN parties only. Oh well, I'm getting more used to using Mandrake 8.1 and associated productivity apps in Linux everyday, thanks mainly to MS' recent draconian measures. So I guess I should actually be thanking Microsoft for being assholes. It's made me learn how stupid I've been in not learning Linux sooner! >:)
BTW, What little I have seen of WinXP has been nothing but a whole lot more window-dressing to the UI of Win95, with the stability of WinNT. Win2k is used by me at home, but only 'cause it's a cross between Win98SE and WinNT. I find it no more innovative functionally than Win95, but it is a bit easier to use. Linux on the other hand, well, when Christmas is over, I'm going to get me a subscription to Transgaming's WineX.
Very true, the media and PETA are definitely minority players in the grand scheme of things, but because they shout the loudest and are the most visible, they drown out the relatively conservative and quiet nerd crowd who is supremely pissed off that stupid laws like the DMCA exist...
Of course, I've been preaching against the DMCA to my friends for months now, and I think many of them are more aware of the issues at hand now. Especially my gf who is in law school right now. >:)
This whole need to 'know the customer' is not necessary. It's also why a Tivo would be nice, but I think I can make due without one. I'll just build a nicer computer that can do all that a Tivo can do (All-In-Wonder Radeon Pro, anyone?).
Anyways, I'm sure all this info that they supposedly need is certainly helpful to them as a company, but I think those surveys they send to your house are more effective than this. Besides, you're opening up a whole can of crackers who will want to break in and steal all the data on their neighbors that they can from MS's database, just to say they can. And if they're really malicious, they'll know exactly when you're watching TV, and when you're not, and can then rob you.
This paranoid delusional tirade has been brought to you by the number '5', and the letter 'F'.:-P
You're actually touching on a psychological issue most of all. Reverse psychology to be exact. Most of what can be considered 'fun', 'cool', 'the next big thing', is that which is out there on the fringe. As long as 'pirating' software is considered a fringe activity, more people will do it out of that innate need to 'push the envelope'. I'm quite sure that at least one company has realized that the best distribution of their software will come from mandating software piracy's "illegality", while secretly allowing a good majority of it to continue.
Wars are known boosts to a slumping or down-and-out economy. Hence the reason why we're where we're at as a nation today, IMO.
And that's why games like Counter-Strike, originally a free for all mod pack to Half-Life, have become commercially avialable software packages? Hell, I still see more CounterStrike servers running than any other online game, and it's STILL a free download if you have the original HL game!
Your baseless facts represent the same arguments software companies illogically use to justify litigating their way to profitability.
1. My point here was that the computer was becoming the home theater application. I'm noting that the TV can be entirely eliminated.
I understand that, but a 22" or 29" computer monitor (for a decent one) costs twice as much as my 25", multiple input TV cost 3 yrs ago. Doesn't make sense to me to eliminate my TV as a general consumer unless I'm made of money. Therefore, I have to resort to sending the output to my TV, which doesn't have digital rights management equipment on it, and therefore I have to 'circumvent' that.
I just want to reiterate that, yes, for the technical geek crowd, putting together a home theatre out of nothing but computer parts is doable, but not very practical. Besides, how do you account for the fact that I need to use the computer to write a program, or essay, or log in at work, while my girlfriend wants to watch regular old Cable TV? We can't BOTH be using that 22" (or worse, 29"!) monstrosity of a monitor to do that at the same time...
In addition to the ever-increasing demands of the operating system, computers are attaining a whole new purpose as complete home entertainment systems. If one invests in a large, crisp monitor and high quality speakers, they can experience unrivaled clarity from DVDs and video games. All modern computers, when equipped with a DVD drive and decoder, should be able to play a DVD without skipping frames, or jerkiness. In addition to DVDs, many new computers now come with video cards that allow TV signals to be played on the monitor. Some even include Radio tuners! Thus, users may eliminate the need for a separate DVD player, TV, and/or Radio simply by buying a computer! Also, the advent of file-sharing services such as Napster heralded the beginning of the end for the stand-alone CD player. I now play all of my music on my computer, as it has better sound fidelity than any CD player I own. Computers are also becoming the preferred gaming medium of the 21st century. Microsoft?s new Xbox appears to be a standard videogame console, but is actually just a regular computer built from mostly off-the-shelf components, albeit modified.
Ok, the article was looking pretty pathetic, but then I got to the above paragraph. HA! is all I have to say. This guy has been living in a box, and has obviously NOT tried to accomplish such a feat! I have. Here's my observations:
1. DVD's only work on the computer. The reason for this is because even if you have a dual ouput video card, you MUST have digital rights management equipment on your TV or other input source to view it on the TV, otherwise, legally made DVD software for the computer won't output the DVD image to your TV. Pretty ultra-retarded caveat if you ask me. Obviously, not only are they trying to limit my ability to 'copy' the DVD, I'm apparently not even allowed to 'copy' the image to a source other than my computer's monitor, if I don't have the latest and greatest digital rights management equipment!! How ridiculous.
2. Napster is dead. DEAD! The RIAA effectively killed it, and now they're trying to kill it's siblings like Kazaa and Gnutella. Listening to my own self-built 'mp3 radio' is increasingly more difficult if you're 'obeying all the rules.'
3. mp3/= better than CD!!! Duh! The reason I go and buy CD's at the store, is because while easy to use, mp3's are not the original source. It's a lossy format, but much better than cassette tapes for longevity's sake.
In conclusion, I think the person who wrote this article is a drone, and has very little real world experience with the obstacles to creating the in home entertainment utopia described in this article. Somebody needs to do some clue-stick bludgeoning before this guy gets around to describing how "Using a cell phone in the car has never been easier!"
Re:I must be missing something
on
Review: SliMP3
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· Score: 1
Actually, our apartment is two stories. My main computer with all of the mp3's is upstairs, the backup computer is downstairs near the TV. And yes, I have CAT5 running between them, and yes, I still don't need the SliMP3 to do everything that a simple Infrared/remote box attached to that backup computer could do for me. (Especially since it also has the DVD drive, which the SliMP3 obviously isn't made for).
Not a flame, I'm just saying that the SliMP3 IS a cool device, but not as full featured as it needs to be for most slashdottians to want to buy it, I think.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying if you believe murdering people is OK we shouldn't stop you from doing it. The fact of the matter is that it is against the law, if you choose to live in a land with such a law you are choosing to abide by that law (if you don't, you are breaking your intrinsic agreement) (Socrates said something to those effects a couple thousand years ago IIRC).
So in effect, you are saying that if it's ok for me to build a country where murder (or any other obviously harmful action) is OK, then I shouldn't be stopped for doing so? You do realize that this breeds constant, never-ending conflict worldwide, right?
Re:I must be missing something
on
Review: SliMP3
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Your PC soundcard and desktop speakers suck compared to your livingroom stereo (assuming you have something better than a K-Mart blue-light special stereo).
That's right, I need ultra-high fidelity sound from my computer. Sure. Why, mp3's are God's gift to mankind with their lossy, although not as bad as cassette tapes, format.
Look, if I wanted ultra-high fidelity sound in the first place, I wouldn't be listening to mp3's, I'd be using the original CD's in a 500-disc changer. But, since it's a pain to manage 1000+ songs when no one cares that much about crystal clear quality at a party I'm planning on hosting come Jan 1st, I think my PC sound card and simple audio/video outs will do just fine, thank you very much.
Sorry if that's a flame, but not all of us are audio-philes with $5,000 systems, and therefore, buying another $260 worth of equipment that I already have is completely unnecessary.
Speaking of shooting one's relatives, we often play paintball during our once a year family reunion vacations. Nothing is quite as fun, memorable, and bonding as shooting your uncle in the butt from 15 yds away!;)
Re:I must be missing something
on
Review: SliMP3
·
· Score: 2
I don't really see the point either since WinAmp has at least one plugin that does IR control with the proper equipment. I took a look at the SliMP3 a while back when someone posted a link to the site on the Audiotron discussion here on slashdot. Really cool project, and good use of Open programming and simple to replace parts, but more of a mod-job than an end-to-end unit if you ask me. My current project computer is a media server running Linux Mandrake 8.1 and Win2k on it. I don't see the need for the SliMP3 when all I have to do is some digging for already existing software and plugins to do the same thing with the computer hardware I already have (17" monitor, GeForce2 MX w/ TV-out and dual-monitor support, PII 400MHz, and a SB Live! Value).
Hehe - you're so right. For the record, I'm a Christian. That's right, let the flames begin. And yes, I've got pretty high moral standards and do think pushing such standards on people is called for some of the time (like Osama - he needs morals pushed all the way up his nose).
And yes, I play violent video games all the time that depict blood, gore, death, and cruelty (CS & RTCW are my current favs;) ). And yes, if I had kids I would not object to them doing the same, but at the same time I would teach them the differences between firing a virtual bullet, and firing a real one, and the major responsibilities inherent with any real-life firearm.
Even I can see that this list is political correctness gone haywire! There are far more well adjusted CounterStrike/Quake/Doom players the world over than misalligned kill rampaging psycho's. Violent video games have no effect in 'creating' child-age killers. Parental neglect of children, on the other hand, is almost ALWAYS part of the equation of child-age killers. Then you can link violent video games with those kids because they have nothing better to do with their time because their parents really don't pay any attention to them and their wants and needs.
...of everything decent and holy! At least make it readable for us idiots that speak the English language half-way decently!:
"Have moved into a post-scarcity gift culture or is the report correct that open source uses and needs the subsidy of public investment to grow within traditional industrial capitalism?"
Well, at least no one is subjected to read the useless drivel of a website that they have as long as you reject their cookies they try to set on your computer. So I guess, not only do they not want people linking to their site, but they also don't want semi-intelligent, privacy loving individuals even looking at their website. Hehe!:)
That's all fine and good, but the original question still remains: Why are we being forced to go to a dealership (referred to as SATAN by the email-digest I subscribe to for my '92 Eagle Talon), to upgrade that which we could do by ourselves if stupid digital controls to limit what we can do were not put in place?
My car's turbo boost guage is wildly inaccurate because the computer feeds it averages of the boost, not a straight reading from the turbo itself. Thankfully, I can buy an aftermarket boost guage, install it properly, and get accurate readings without circumventing the computer. This makes it much easier for me to diagnose problems with my car in the future as I have accurate readings from the turbo, not averages.
This idea goes for all kinds of other areas of my car, as well as other cars. Besides, the driving tests here in America suck huge hairy ones! There are so many clueless drivers, without knowledge of how to actually drive a car, on the roads because of it. Just like most of the other perfectly good laws in this country (like no drunk driving laws) - if we could enforce 'em with more manpower, we wouldn't need ever more restrictive laws in the first place.
With a rant like that, it's no wonder people don't read slashdot stories!
BTW Katz, political revolutionary utopian ideals of freedom and openness in society are not that. They are pipe dreams of self-proclaimed intellectuals. I'm glad they exist, they need to for the general betterment of the world, but let's be realistic. In over 10,000 years of known human history, WHEN have we ever even come close to utopia? You have to agree that utopia would be great, but the human race is currently not capable of creating such a thing with our naturally selfish humanity. After all, democracy and economic free markets thrive solely on the selfish desires of the individual to get what they want. As a group, this provides the usually best compromises between self desires and group needs. It gets skewed when any one individual gains more power. And communism has NOT worked to provide a utopian future - quite the opposite. Ask any Russian, Cuban, or Chinese citizen if they are as rich as the average American citizen. - We're not even a democracy or true free market economy!
Re:To celebrate the birthday of email:
on
Email Turns Thirty
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· Score: 3, Funny
You know what the great part about that is? There are numerous automated email tools out there for MS Outlook! Sircam, goner, and Nimbda I think were the names of just some of the more popular, faster ones, IIRC...
As others have said, government should keep hands off taking tools away. Let the script kiddies have their scripts and password cracking software. We can use it against them if we're allowed to have it too.
The main problem with all government laws is the inability of government to adequately enforce the laws. Like the DMCA. That was put in place, wrongly if you ask me, to protect digital copyrighted works, like CD's. Yet it would be trivially easy for me to download an entire CD of mp3's, burn a CD, and then sell it for half-price to my friends. And I would most likely never be caught. I most definitely do not think that this happens the vast majority of the time in America, but in China, software and copyright 'pirating' is rampant. But we can't crack down on them 'cause our government doesn't have the willpower to protect its own citizen's interests. Instead, it enacts even more ridiculous rules to try and stop the criminals, when really all they're doing is hurting free enterprising individuals within their own borders.
So PLEASE! for the love of everything decent and holy, DO NOT start banning everything that *could* be used as a computer security breaking tool. Just enforce the rules already on the books. Hire more computer security experts, not more thugs in black suits. An ounce of prevention is worth a thousand pounds of security in our digital world.
It may be designed for high-density, minimum use of space servers for companies, but personally, I would love to encase that puppy in a little black box and make it my media server at home. It would make a nice, neat, hardly noticeable (compared to my ugly beige Dell case - blech!) all encompassing, reconfigurable media server for piping mp3's, DVD's, mpeg's, and other digitized media to my home theatre from all over the house...
Don't worry, it's just typical of everyone to not be wowed and amazed to something that looks just ordinary. Unless it has three eyes, gills, a tentacle, and runs on thirteen different 486's running Linux, the Slashdot crew, like much of the world (including my coworkers!) won't think it's that amazing.
Invest now, and watch as an 'ordinary, just-another-scooter' invention becomes the next big thing within 10 years.
People keep slamming on Steve Jobs for touting it as the Next Big Thing, because after all, he only invented Apple Computers and they never did so well. Considering he helped invent the entire desktop PC, which MS stole GUI ideas and other things from, I honestly don't know why slashdot (users and site operators alike) is being so gay about IT.
For Christmas I want:
IT, Segway, Ginger, whatever you call it.
Civ3 - I already got it, but highly recommend it
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - if my computer had a GeForce3 it would run fine for me, and I played the multiplayer test more than CS over the past few weeks!
GeForce3 - to run games better on my PC
PS2 + Final Fantasy 10 - give me a gift certificate to Best Buy, I can wait a few weeks;)
Yes I strayed off-topic a bit, but somebody had to do it.
Slashdot Mirror
If you haven't already, check this site out: BoycottXP.com.
BTW, What little I have seen of WinXP has been nothing but a whole lot more window-dressing to the UI of Win95, with the stability of WinNT. Win2k is used by me at home, but only 'cause it's a cross between Win98SE and WinNT. I find it no more innovative functionally than Win95, but it is a bit easier to use. Linux on the other hand, well, when Christmas is over, I'm going to get me a subscription to Transgaming's WineX.
Of course, I've been preaching against the DMCA to my friends for months now, and I think many of them are more aware of the issues at hand now. Especially my gf who is in law school right now. >:)
Anyways, I'm sure all this info that they supposedly need is certainly helpful to them as a company, but I think those surveys they send to your house are more effective than this. Besides, you're opening up a whole can of crackers who will want to break in and steal all the data on their neighbors that they can from MS's database, just to say they can. And if they're really malicious, they'll know exactly when you're watching TV, and when you're not, and can then rob you.
This paranoid delusional tirade has been brought to you by the number '5', and the letter 'F'. :-P
Wars are known boosts to a slumping or down-and-out economy. Hence the reason why we're where we're at as a nation today, IMO.
Your baseless facts represent the same arguments software companies illogically use to justify litigating their way to profitability.
We're allowed to borrow cars overnight to 'try-before-we-buy.' Why not all software?
I understand that, but a 22" or 29" computer monitor (for a decent one) costs twice as much as my 25", multiple input TV cost 3 yrs ago. Doesn't make sense to me to eliminate my TV as a general consumer unless I'm made of money. Therefore, I have to resort to sending the output to my TV, which doesn't have digital rights management equipment on it, and therefore I have to 'circumvent' that.
I just want to reiterate that, yes, for the technical geek crowd, putting together a home theatre out of nothing but computer parts is doable, but not very practical. Besides, how do you account for the fact that I need to use the computer to write a program, or essay, or log in at work, while my girlfriend wants to watch regular old Cable TV? We can't BOTH be using that 22" (or worse, 29"!) monstrosity of a monitor to do that at the same time...
Ok, the article was looking pretty pathetic, but then I got to the above paragraph. HA! is all I have to say. This guy has been living in a box, and has obviously NOT tried to accomplish such a feat! I have. Here's my observations:
1. DVD's only work on the computer. The reason for this is because even if you have a dual ouput video card, you MUST have digital rights management equipment on your TV or other input source to view it on the TV, otherwise, legally made DVD software for the computer won't output the DVD image to your TV. Pretty ultra-retarded caveat if you ask me. Obviously, not only are they trying to limit my ability to 'copy' the DVD, I'm apparently not even allowed to 'copy' the image to a source other than my computer's monitor, if I don't have the latest and greatest digital rights management equipment!! How ridiculous. /= better than CD!!! Duh! The reason I go and buy CD's at the store, is because while easy to use, mp3's are not the original source. It's a lossy format, but much better than cassette tapes for longevity's sake.
2. Napster is dead. DEAD! The RIAA effectively killed it, and now they're trying to kill it's siblings like Kazaa and Gnutella. Listening to my own self-built 'mp3 radio' is increasingly more difficult if you're 'obeying all the rules.'
3. mp3
In conclusion, I think the person who wrote this article is a drone, and has very little real world experience with the obstacles to creating the in home entertainment utopia described in this article. Somebody needs to do some clue-stick bludgeoning before this guy gets around to describing how "Using a cell phone in the car has never been easier!"
Not a flame, I'm just saying that the SliMP3 IS a cool device, but not as full featured as it needs to be for most slashdottians to want to buy it, I think.
So in effect, you are saying that if it's ok for me to build a country where murder (or any other obviously harmful action) is OK, then I shouldn't be stopped for doing so? You do realize that this breeds constant, never-ending conflict worldwide, right?
That's right, I need ultra-high fidelity sound from my computer. Sure. Why, mp3's are God's gift to mankind with their lossy, although not as bad as cassette tapes, format.
Look, if I wanted ultra-high fidelity sound in the first place, I wouldn't be listening to mp3's, I'd be using the original CD's in a 500-disc changer. But, since it's a pain to manage 1000+ songs when no one cares that much about crystal clear quality at a party I'm planning on hosting come Jan 1st, I think my PC sound card and simple audio/video outs will do just fine, thank you very much.
Sorry if that's a flame, but not all of us are audio-philes with $5,000 systems, and therefore, buying another $260 worth of equipment that I already have is completely unnecessary.
Speaking of shooting one's relatives, we often play paintball during our once a year family reunion vacations. Nothing is quite as fun, memorable, and bonding as shooting your uncle in the butt from 15 yds away! ;)
I don't really see the point either since WinAmp has at least one plugin that does IR control with the proper equipment. I took a look at the SliMP3 a while back when someone posted a link to the site on the Audiotron discussion here on slashdot. Really cool project, and good use of Open programming and simple to replace parts, but more of a mod-job than an end-to-end unit if you ask me. My current project computer is a media server running Linux Mandrake 8.1 and Win2k on it. I don't see the need for the SliMP3 when all I have to do is some digging for already existing software and plugins to do the same thing with the computer hardware I already have (17" monitor, GeForce2 MX w/ TV-out and dual-monitor support, PII 400MHz, and a SB Live! Value).
And yes, I play violent video games all the time that depict blood, gore, death, and cruelty (CS & RTCW are my current favs ;) ). And yes, if I had kids I would not object to them doing the same, but at the same time I would teach them the differences between firing a virtual bullet, and firing a real one, and the major responsibilities inherent with any real-life firearm.
Even I can see that this list is political correctness gone haywire! There are far more well adjusted CounterStrike/Quake/Doom players the world over than misalligned kill rampaging psycho's. Violent video games have no effect in 'creating' child-age killers. Parental neglect of children, on the other hand, is almost ALWAYS part of the equation of child-age killers. Then you can link violent video games with those kids because they have nothing better to do with their time because their parents really don't pay any attention to them and their wants and needs.
"Have moved into a post-scarcity gift culture or is the report correct that open source uses and needs the subsidy of public investment to grow within traditional industrial capitalism?"
Well, at least no one is subjected to read the useless drivel of a website that they have as long as you reject their cookies they try to set on your computer. So I guess, not only do they not want people linking to their site, but they also don't want semi-intelligent, privacy loving individuals even looking at their website. Hehe! :)
I saw research somewhere that said that driving while extremely drowsy was actually more dangerous than driving drunk. Maybe she was too tired...
My car's turbo boost guage is wildly inaccurate because the computer feeds it averages of the boost, not a straight reading from the turbo itself. Thankfully, I can buy an aftermarket boost guage, install it properly, and get accurate readings without circumventing the computer. This makes it much easier for me to diagnose problems with my car in the future as I have accurate readings from the turbo, not averages.
This idea goes for all kinds of other areas of my car, as well as other cars. Besides, the driving tests here in America suck huge hairy ones! There are so many clueless drivers, without knowledge of how to actually drive a car, on the roads because of it. Just like most of the other perfectly good laws in this country (like no drunk driving laws) - if we could enforce 'em with more manpower, we wouldn't need ever more restrictive laws in the first place.
BTW Katz, political revolutionary utopian ideals of freedom and openness in society are not that. They are pipe dreams of self-proclaimed intellectuals. I'm glad they exist, they need to for the general betterment of the world, but let's be realistic. In over 10,000 years of known human history, WHEN have we ever even come close to utopia? You have to agree that utopia would be great, but the human race is currently not capable of creating such a thing with our naturally selfish humanity. After all, democracy and economic free markets thrive solely on the selfish desires of the individual to get what they want. As a group, this provides the usually best compromises between self desires and group needs. It gets skewed when any one individual gains more power. And communism has NOT worked to provide a utopian future - quite the opposite. Ask any Russian, Cuban, or Chinese citizen if they are as rich as the average American citizen. - We're not even a democracy or true free market economy!
You know what the great part about that is? There are numerous automated email tools out there for MS Outlook! Sircam, goner, and Nimbda I think were the names of just some of the more popular, faster ones, IIRC...
I.E. Any anally retentive jerk-wad.
The main problem with all government laws is the inability of government to adequately enforce the laws. Like the DMCA. That was put in place, wrongly if you ask me, to protect digital copyrighted works, like CD's. Yet it would be trivially easy for me to download an entire CD of mp3's, burn a CD, and then sell it for half-price to my friends. And I would most likely never be caught. I most definitely do not think that this happens the vast majority of the time in America, but in China, software and copyright 'pirating' is rampant. But we can't crack down on them 'cause our government doesn't have the willpower to protect its own citizen's interests. Instead, it enacts even more ridiculous rules to try and stop the criminals, when really all they're doing is hurting free enterprising individuals within their own borders.
So PLEASE! for the love of everything decent and holy, DO NOT start banning everything that *could* be used as a computer security breaking tool. Just enforce the rules already on the books. Hire more computer security experts, not more thugs in black suits. An ounce of prevention is worth a thousand pounds of security in our digital world.
It may be designed for high-density, minimum use of space servers for companies, but personally, I would love to encase that puppy in a little black box and make it my media server at home. It would make a nice, neat, hardly noticeable (compared to my ugly beige Dell case - blech!) all encompassing, reconfigurable media server for piping mp3's, DVD's, mpeg's, and other digitized media to my home theatre from all over the house...
Invest now, and watch as an 'ordinary, just-another-scooter' invention becomes the next big thing within 10 years.
People keep slamming on Steve Jobs for touting it as the Next Big Thing, because after all, he only invented Apple Computers and they never did so well. Considering he helped invent the entire desktop PC, which MS stole GUI ideas and other things from, I honestly don't know why slashdot (users and site operators alike) is being so gay about IT.
For Christmas I want: ;)
IT, Segway, Ginger, whatever you call it.
Civ3 - I already got it, but highly recommend it
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - if my computer had a GeForce3 it would run fine for me, and I played the multiplayer test more than CS over the past few weeks!
GeForce3 - to run games better on my PC
PS2 + Final Fantasy 10 - give me a gift certificate to Best Buy, I can wait a few weeks
Yes I strayed off-topic a bit, but somebody had to do it.