I just think it's fantastic that people like Tolkien are finally writing books based on movies these days. It really helps out people who leave a movie wanting more.
Anybody have word on pricing for something like this? While MySQL might be a nice, free database server...the boys at MySQL.com have tried to turn a buck before on services and support, so I wouldn't be surprised if something like this actually costs money. Hopefully it's worth it.
So...does Apple charge sales tax when you buy the gift certificate? Or just when you buy the music...which is how my two $0.99 songs are $2.16 on the credit card.
If anyone's read Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," it offers a convenient future in which people can simply "back-up" their persona. Modern medicine isn't so focused on healing but rather on restoration. And so, you're only as safe as your latest backup.
The save game feature is as convenient, but it lacks one real-life phenomenon that lie at the fault of a backup. You forget everything that's happened to you since your backup. You don't know how you died. Any actions or conversations you've had still really occurred, only you can't remember them. Time has passed for everyone else...except you.
The videogame save tends to lack this fate. You might lose items or levels you gained from your last save, but the knowledge is still yours. You know where those chests are and you know what's around the corner.
It'd be interesting to see a game develop around saves with a similar hint. Everything that happens after a save still has occurred, even if you die. Your saved game guarantees a convenient point to restore, but nothing else. Persons you've spoken with re-act as if you should know what they've told you. Chests you've unlocked are still unlocked, and those items remain on your corpse. In fact, one interesting fate of death is you'd probably want to go find your old body and pluck the items off it.
I'd really like to see a new form of save point. Create a game that isn't overly impossible to complete with one life, but force the player to choose just when and where they'd like to cache that life. And if death catches you, then you've got all the more challenge to your quests.
The author makes a good attempt at comparing these products, but I don't think his samples are indepth enough to come up with real-world results.
For Bayes testing, he used 68 spam and 68 ham messages. Spamassassin for one won't even activate bayes until it's learned from 200 messages; it's not uncommon for those who regularly deal with spam management on the server side to use 5000-10,000 message corpuses to test new rule additions and to train spam.
The low number might have a slight effect if most of your mail contains similar characteristics, but I'd much rather have seen bigger numbers of samples.
I'm starting to find more and more comparisons between McBride and the Iraqi Information Minister.
"There are no IBM patents in SCO. Never!" "We have them surrounded in their servers!" "Let the IBM infidels bask in their illusion!" "We will own them all...most of them!"
My company has 10 iBooks we give out on a regular basis, so they see their share of abuse while moving from room to room and person to person. When we bought them, we talked about getting AppleCare but since we've never had it on other Macs, the management angle was to avoid spending another $3000 to support all of these.
Now, I know the company line that Ni-Cad batteries have no memory. I also have seen on 10 iBooks that if you don't follow good practices of fully charging the laptop and allowing it a few cycles now and then, you'll have 10 batteries with a life of 30 minutes or less within a year. So I've now replaced every battery in my iBooks because of this short-life problem. This IS covered by AppleCare. Free $129 battery if you call and explain your's has no life. In 3 years, I go easily see you going through two or three batteries.
And then...maybe gravity takes hold and one of these laptops happens to "fall." Well, AppleCare will cover the screen and most other parts, so long as physical damage is not evident (no cracked or shattered screen and plastic). We had an LCD completely wig out and fail after the warranty expired. The procedure is this...
You call Apple, and they charge you $50 to talk to them. Then, they decide it needs to get sent back, and you ship it on a credit card which has an estimate of what it might cost. Mine was between $400-800. Two days later I got the iBook back. Two weeks later I got the bill. $869 for a new screen, the repair labor, and shipping.
AppleCare might seem like a waste...and some warranty programs are. But if EVER you need it, you're saving a lot of money in the long run.
While their examples are true, the concepts in a search engine don't make much sense.
I'm not going to lookup info about tulips by typing in "flowers." I might try something more specfic like "tulip varieties info."
It's a manner of using the internet. Most people on Slashdot wouldn't be too surprised to see that Apple Computer is what shows up when you search for "apple." Novice computer users might be. Then again, there might very well be more popular links to Apple's website and products on the web than there are to sites about...well...fruit. So if you want apples, try "apple fruit" in your search.
How's Vonage work with 911 service? It's a real interesting concept but I'm curious if they are able to tie into location-based networks for emergency services.
Check out http://www.saveonphone.com. They've got a listing of some of the top alternate carriers with their basic stats listed. Many of these use the same lines as major carriers so you're not necessarily getting a lower-quality service.
Maybe of these can switch your local and long distance. I went with Total Call International due to the cheap intrastate rates...which often are more expensive than LD rates. And they bill every 6 seconds with no monthly fee. So when MCI called to earn my love back and I told 'em the rates, the rep said
I'm wondering what the slashdot fans seem to lean towards. Is it viewed as better, or easier, to simply flip on a few RBLs and prevent the messages from ever touching your server...or would you rather use these alongside sorting technology to channel spam towards a designated folder?
Spamassassin and the like do a decent job of helping the spam problem, but my users still complain that their SPAM box has 80 messages a day...even if they get no false positives.
Personally, I'd rather have control over this than my ISP...as at least I can control how I choose to filter or not to filter. And I think the brute-force nature of an RBL often offers piece of mind but without adequate logging or reporting to guarantee you're only blocking what you intend. I'll settle for a full SPAM box any day...
I tried to download the newer version of iTunes which is "Available Right Now" as Steve likes to say. Seems that the downloader is pulling down version 3.01 and the installer actually installs the older version.
Where can we get version 4 from? Not available on software update yet.
One thing that is rather cool to see is Apple's pricing of their fiber channel card.
500 bucks...
If indeed this is a standard fiber channel pipe, that's a bargain. Most of the SANs I've seen run around $2000 for such a card, and it makes adding fiber worthwhile on a desktop G4 even if you need the bandwidth.
I mean, I can see certain countries like China banning Microsoft from their computers...but why does the nation of Canada have to boldy state that Apple is going out of business? Maybe they're just upset there isn't a Apple Store Toronto yet...
Not really sure how well this pocket system is going to actually feel. It looks very square and boxy...and I know from trying to use my Palm to play simple games, it doesn't feel good to hold something like that for very long.
I wonder if they went too far towards attractive design and ended up making an XBox controller.
Sure...it's not the same as downloading music via P2P, but I find it real interesting that the article states that lables (meaning...more than one? all the big ones?) okayed Musicmix. Which seems a lot like streaming music to me. A 60-tune playlist is still several hours of music...and because Microsoft asked nicely and because they're Microsoft...it's okay. So any internet radio stations still are under flack...but this form is legit.
I'm wondering if file transfers between group members will have some sort of MB limit or rather will spawn tiny groups of Morpheus users.
It's sad to see so many on this list around the 1993-1997 range. These episodes are deserving of high praise, but it shows that on a best-of list, the modern Simpsons don't hold a candle to some of the former writers.
Oh, Conan, why'd you have to leave!!!
Snow Crashing
on
Sim-Dud?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
It's a thought that The Sims Online shows us how far we've got to go to accept a true virtual world, in which the point is simply to exist.
The projection of avatars and worlds of Stephenson and Gibson weren't based as a game of any sort, but an environment, and The Sims Online might be trying too hard to be both. As The Sims alone...it's not really a game as much as a management simulator for life. And existing in multiplayer mode, I'm surprised people expected a lot more out of it that a graphical chat environment.
If you read the Amazon reviews, they're split with people either loving it or completely hating it. I'd guess the ones who enjoy it are also the ones who find minutes and hours slipping away in AOL chat rooms. It's not necessarily the same people who play Everquest or any other MMORPG.
I'm not sure The Sims Online is supposed to be a fanatic success to the level everyone expected, but I wouldn't count it completely out yet. It's possible that it holds early groundwork towards a universal, easy-access virtual environment...kinda like AOL back in the early 90s.
For packet level filtering, there's one box I've found and like quite a bit. eAladdin makes eSafe Gateway, which can act as a bridge or router tossed in front of your network (directly after the firewall). It scans all http, ftp, and smtp traffic...but they had a fix out to also look for slammer a few hours into the mess.
While it's not true packet level, it's pretty fast and gives you a bit more protection and configurability that I think a raw router might be able to do. Granted, this won't help much if you've got internal laptops or something bringing the bug with you...though it would prevent you from attacking others with it.
Not a sales pitch, just a satisfied customer... www.esafe.com -----------------
Slashdot Mirror
Lemme just say...no shit!
For those who can't get to the page, here's how it works...
1. Create java app to upload data from scanned images.
2. Submit Slashdot story relevant to information privacy.
3. ???
4. Profit!
I just think it's fantastic that people like Tolkien are finally writing books based on movies these days. It really helps out people who leave a movie wanting more.
Anybody have word on pricing for something like this? While MySQL might be a nice, free database server...the boys at MySQL.com have tried to turn a buck before on services and support, so I wouldn't be surprised if something like this actually costs money. Hopefully it's worth it.
Until then, I'm stuck with ol' phpMyAdmin...
So...does Apple charge sales tax when you buy the gift certificate? Or just when you buy the music...which is how my two $0.99 songs are $2.16 on the credit card.
Or maybe they do it on both....
If anyone's read Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," it offers a convenient future in which people can simply "back-up" their persona. Modern medicine isn't so focused on healing but rather on restoration. And so, you're only as safe as your latest backup.
The save game feature is as convenient, but it lacks one real-life phenomenon that lie at the fault of a backup. You forget everything that's happened to you since your backup. You don't know how you died. Any actions or conversations you've had still really occurred, only you can't remember them. Time has passed for everyone else...except you.
The videogame save tends to lack this fate. You might lose items or levels you gained from your last save, but the knowledge is still yours. You know where those chests are and you know what's around the corner.
It'd be interesting to see a game develop around saves with a similar hint. Everything that happens after a save still has occurred, even if you die. Your saved game guarantees a convenient point to restore, but nothing else. Persons you've spoken with re-act as if you should know what they've told you. Chests you've unlocked are still unlocked, and those items remain on your corpse. In fact, one interesting fate of death is you'd probably want to go find your old body and pluck the items off it.
I'd really like to see a new form of save point. Create a game that isn't overly impossible to complete with one life, but force the player to choose just when and where they'd like to cache that life. And if death catches you, then you've got all the more challenge to your quests.
The author makes a good attempt at comparing these products, but I don't think his samples are indepth enough to come up with real-world results.
For Bayes testing, he used 68 spam and 68 ham messages. Spamassassin for one won't even activate bayes until it's learned from 200 messages; it's not uncommon for those who regularly deal with spam management on the server side to use 5000-10,000 message corpuses to test new rule additions and to train spam.
The low number might have a slight effect if most of your mail contains similar characteristics, but I'd much rather have seen bigger numbers of samples.
Off-comment...
But I love the fact that if you type this sig straight into google, you end up with the first link to Apple's iPod.
161MB for Pac Man, eh? Must be all fancy and stuff...
I'm starting to find more and more comparisons between McBride and the Iraqi Information Minister.
"There are no IBM patents in SCO. Never!"
"We have them surrounded in their servers!"
"Let the IBM infidels bask in their illusion!"
"We will own them all...most of them!"
My company has 10 iBooks we give out on a regular basis, so they see their share of abuse while moving from room to room and person to person. When we bought them, we talked about getting AppleCare but since we've never had it on other Macs, the management angle was to avoid spending another $3000 to support all of these.
Now, I know the company line that Ni-Cad batteries have no memory. I also have seen on 10 iBooks that if you don't follow good practices of fully charging the laptop and allowing it a few cycles now and then, you'll have 10 batteries with a life of 30 minutes or less within a year. So I've now replaced every battery in my iBooks because of this short-life problem. This IS covered by AppleCare. Free $129 battery if you call and explain your's has no life. In 3 years, I go easily see you going through two or three batteries.
And then...maybe gravity takes hold and one of these laptops happens to "fall." Well, AppleCare will cover the screen and most other parts, so long as physical damage is not evident (no cracked or shattered screen and plastic). We had an LCD completely wig out and fail after the warranty expired. The procedure is this...
You call Apple, and they charge you $50 to talk to them. Then, they decide it needs to get sent back, and you ship it on a credit card which has an estimate of what it might cost. Mine was between $400-800. Two days later I got the iBook back. Two weeks later I got the bill. $869 for a new screen, the repair labor, and shipping.
AppleCare might seem like a waste...and some warranty programs are. But if EVER you need it, you're saving a lot of money in the long run.
While their examples are true, the concepts in a search engine don't make much sense.
I'm not going to lookup info about tulips by typing in "flowers." I might try something more specfic like "tulip varieties info."
It's a manner of using the internet. Most people on Slashdot wouldn't be too surprised to see that Apple Computer is what shows up when you search for "apple." Novice computer users might be. Then again, there might very well be more popular links to Apple's website and products on the web than there are to sites about...well...fruit. So if you want apples, try "apple fruit" in your search.
Wow...a demo of NW for the OS X folks and a shipping version for the Linux team.
Not a bad week in gaming for those who have strayed away from the flock.
How's Vonage work with 911 service? It's a real interesting concept but I'm curious if they are able to tie into location-based networks for emergency services.
Check out http://www.saveonphone.com. They've got a listing of some of the top alternate carriers with their basic stats listed. Many of these use the same lines as major carriers so you're not necessarily getting a lower-quality service.
...ken
Maybe of these can switch your local and long distance. I went with Total Call International due to the cheap intrastate rates...which often are more expensive than LD rates. And they bill every 6 seconds with no monthly fee. So when MCI called to earn my love back and I told 'em the rates, the rep said
"Oh...well, yeah. You got us beat."
Konami snagged Jennifer Love Hewitt's singing talents(!?) to present this game at E3...so at least they've got an attractive marketing angle.
Plus, anything that boosts the chances of women wanting to have anything to do with my PS2 can't be a bad thing.
---
I'm wondering what the slashdot fans seem to lean towards. Is it viewed as better, or easier, to simply flip on a few RBLs and prevent the messages from ever touching your server...or would you rather use these alongside sorting technology to channel spam towards a designated folder?
Spamassassin and the like do a decent job of helping the spam problem, but my users still complain that their SPAM box has 80 messages a day...even if they get no false positives.
Personally, I'd rather have control over this than my ISP...as at least I can control how I choose to filter or not to filter. And I think the brute-force nature of an RBL often offers piece of mind but without adequate logging or reporting to guarantee you're only blocking what you intend. I'll settle for a full SPAM box any day...
I tried to download the newer version of iTunes which is "Available Right Now" as Steve likes to say. Seems that the downloader is pulling down version 3.01 and the installer actually installs the older version.
Where can we get version 4 from? Not available on software update yet.
One thing that is rather cool to see is Apple's pricing of their fiber channel card.
500 bucks...
If indeed this is a standard fiber channel pipe, that's a bargain. Most of the SANs I've seen run around $2000 for such a card, and it makes adding fiber worthwhile on a desktop G4 even if you need the bandwidth.
I mean, I can see certain countries like China banning Microsoft from their computers...but why does the nation of Canada have to boldy state that Apple is going out of business? Maybe they're just upset there isn't a Apple Store Toronto yet...
Not really sure how well this pocket system is going to actually feel. It looks very square and boxy...and I know from trying to use my Palm to play simple games, it doesn't feel good to hold something like that for very long.
I wonder if they went too far towards attractive design and ended up making an XBox controller.
Sure...it's not the same as downloading music via P2P, but I find it real interesting that the article states that lables (meaning...more than one? all the big ones?) okayed Musicmix. Which seems a lot like streaming music to me. A 60-tune playlist is still several hours of music...and because Microsoft asked nicely and because they're Microsoft...it's okay. So any internet radio stations still are under flack...but this form is legit.
I'm wondering if file transfers between group members will have some sort of MB limit or rather will spawn tiny groups of Morpheus users.
It's sad to see so many on this list around the 1993-1997 range. These episodes are deserving of high praise, but it shows that on a best-of list, the modern Simpsons don't hold a candle to some of the former writers.
Oh, Conan, why'd you have to leave!!!
It's a thought that The Sims Online shows us how far we've got to go to accept a true virtual world, in which the point is simply to exist.
The projection of avatars and worlds of Stephenson and Gibson weren't based as a game of any sort, but an environment, and The Sims Online might be trying too hard to be both. As The Sims alone...it's not really a game as much as a management simulator for life. And existing in multiplayer mode, I'm surprised people expected a lot more out of it that a graphical chat environment.
If you read the Amazon reviews, they're split with people either loving it or completely hating it. I'd guess the ones who enjoy it are also the ones who find minutes and hours slipping away in AOL chat rooms. It's not necessarily the same people who play Everquest or any other MMORPG.
I'm not sure The Sims Online is supposed to be a fanatic success to the level everyone expected, but I wouldn't count it completely out yet. It's possible that it holds early groundwork towards a universal, easy-access virtual environment...kinda like AOL back in the early 90s.
For packet level filtering, there's one box I've found and like quite a bit. eAladdin makes eSafe Gateway, which can act as a bridge or router tossed in front of your network (directly after the firewall). It scans all http, ftp, and smtp traffic...but they had a fix out to also look for slammer a few hours into the mess.
While it's not true packet level, it's pretty fast and gives you a bit more protection and configurability that I think a raw router might be able to do. Granted, this won't help much if you've got internal laptops or something bringing the bug with you...though it would prevent you from attacking others with it.
Not a sales pitch, just a satisfied customer...
www.esafe.com
-----------------