Nope, it's no joke. You're just taking it the wrong way.
It's a test feed before the real programming starts on May 1st - they just decided to run Pong instead of boring color bars with a low tone for a week.
I thought it was really a creative way to get interest in the channel. Guess I was wrong.
It's just G4's version of "Color Bars"
on
G4: The Pong Channel?
·
· Score: 4, Informative
The press release is no joke - they really are showing Pong. But the reason behind it is because EVERY cable TV network has to test their feed before they truly go live. MOST networks do something boring like color bars with a low tone. G4 decided to be CREATIVE and show Pong for ONE WEEK and everybody gets all over them. The real programming starts on May 1st.
It figures, though. The last time G4 was announced on Slashdot in November, it got a very heavy critisizm that it wouldn't work from CmdrTaco. I submitted the story it was launching 3 times last week and it was rejected. I guess they were waiting for a NEGATIVE story to come in before covering it at all. So I guess Slashdot will be unsupportive of the new network. Yet I bet if they showed Linux all the time it would be hailed as the second coming.
I have never been in a best buy where each register didn't have at least two people waiting in line. I've stopped shopping there since twice they've had register wait times of over 15 minutes or more.
Actually, I've had the distinct pleasure of waiting 15 minutes in a line that then CLOSED - and they moved us all to a line that did NOT accept credit cards. I was told to either go to the back of another line or leave the premesis by a manager.
A retailer told me recently that Microsoft is gonna keep pumping money into the XBox just to keep it on store shelves for about 5 years or so. So, it won't go away like the Dreamcast did, it will just clutter up store shelves.
My personal conspiriacy theory is that they ARE gonna take XBox's off the shelves and put in their PVR and other stuff to make XBox 2.0 the "ultimate convergence box" that was the big thing in 1998.
There's nothing wrong with playing games per se, but I think that games where you do cool stuff you never usually do, like fly jet fighters, and games where you achieve something more than holding a text converstaion with another similar loser, are far superior.
Please tell me where in "real life" I can go slay orcs and dragons, and cast really big pretty magic spells.
When I heard of people getting 'married' in these games, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I guess being happy for someone actually enjoying themselves is not an option for you, huh. They gotta either enjoy it your way or be pitied by you, even if they're having fun.
What are the differences between the Linux (for PlayStation 2) development environment and that used by professional game developers?
Professional game developers get access to a special version of the PlayStation 2 hardware which contains more memory and extra debug facilities. This hardware, known as the T10K, is a lot more expensive than a commercial PlayStation 2 and is only available to licensed game developers. If you are seriously interested in becoming a licensed game developer, please see this link for North America and this link for Europe and Australasia . In addition to the T10K, licensed game developers get additional support which is part of the reason that the T10K is so much more expensive than a PlayStation 2 console.
In terms of access to the PlayStation 2 hardware and libraries, Linux (for PlayStation 2) offers an almost identical set of functionality to that provided to licensed game developers. In fact the system manuals provided with the Linux kit have identical content to 6 of the 7 system manuals provided to licensed developers. The missing information which is provided to licensed developers and not to users of Linux (for PlayStation 2) describes the hardware that controls the CD/DVD-ROM, SPU2 Audio chip and other IO peripheral control hardware. This hardware functionality is still available for use with the linux kit through a software interface called the Runtime Environment.
The final major difference between the two is the operating system. A licensed developer creates games for the PlayStation 2 which use a light weight proprietary operating system kernel. This kernel offers much less functionality than Linux, but has the advantage of offering slightly faster access to the hardware.
In most cases, it is possible to get almost the same performance with Linux (for PlayStation 2) and the professional game development tools.
Shouldn't be that hard, since I'm pretty sure that code written with PS2 Linux use the same hardware calls as the professional dev stations. The professional dev stations use Linux themselves, albeit a more souped up version.
According to the article, while it's possible to go to the metal with Linux, the major question I would ask is... Linux APIs =? Native APIs.
If I want to program in the Linux API, I can just use my Linux PC that I got here next to me. The Linux kit will offer direct access to the PS2 proprietary video and rendering engine, which is what I want to get my grubby little hands on.
And everyone else mentioned the broadband adapter, so I won't do the whole "me too!" thing.
How easy would it be to port it to a 'native' PS2 game, one that could be sold commercially? Or if not sold, maybe Sony could distribute it for low cost to push sales and I could get some fame as a game developer that way.... any thoughts? I just don't want develop games that so few people could end up playing.
I believe (key word, don't quote me on this) that Sony won't be looking to distribute your work unless you pay the high licensing fee. The PS2 Linux game platform is for HOBBYISTS, who want to get their feet wet. I'm not sure how "famous" you'd get developing games using the PS2 Linux Kit. Only people with the Linux Kit would be able to play your games. I'm personally using it more as a learning experience and a resume builder. (Hey look, I can use the PS2GL! Hire me!)
A lot of people are saying it's not all that useful because it can't play DVD's in Linux and stuff...I want to get it because it allows you direct access to the PS2 graphics hardware and will give me some experience in programming console games. I would have killed to have gotten a Net Yaroze (for the original PlayStation) just to get to play around with it. With the Net Yaroze, you developed on a PC and uploaded about a meg and a half max through a paralell port. At least now I can develop on the box (through ethernet) and play my game right there, and then send it to other people with PS2 Linux.
Would you want to make this your only Linux box? Not really. Make it a server? Nope, not really. Use it as a way to program PS2 games without paying the extraordinarily high Sony licensing fees? Yep. That's what I'm using it for.
If I want to hack Linux, I'll just hack the linux PC I already own.
I'm not gonna argue about any of the GSM or any of the technical stuff, but the features of I-Mode and just the cell phones in general really amazed me, and showed how primitive my Nokia 5165 really was after spending a week visiting a friend in Japan. 16-bit color graphics, 32-voice polyphonic sound (so your ringtones can be that much more annoying), digital cameras, videoconferencing (available in December 2002), and the java games...In one of the booklets I brought back, it showed that you could play Street Fighter II on your cell phone, and it looked almost as good as a Gameboy Color screen, and it was even back-lit.
Of course, the arguments AGAINST this kind of technology is because "you shouldn't be playing games on your cell phone". The mentality explains why they're popular in Japan but not here - at least in Tokyo, you spend a lot of time on public transportation, since it's really good there. What you would do on the trains is open up your DoCoMo and read the news or play a game while going to your destination. In America, you spend most of your time in private transportation (cars) - where you should NOT be playing a game or reading the news on a cell phone. (I fully support any legislation that forces the use of hands-free devices when you're driving)
And the funny thing was on one of the trains. There were signs in the cabin asking you not to use your cell phone at your seat to not disturb the other passengers. Then, in between cars (where you can use them), there's a sign that says that J-Phone (the other provider) is equipping all of the tunnels in Tokyo with receivers so you can still use your phone when you go under a tunnel. So they're saying "Please don't use your cell phones on the train, but we're gonna make it easier for you to use your cell phone on the train!"
So now I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of even a low-end DoCoMo to the US - and unfortunately I've heard that Atlanta will not be GSM compliant until the beginning of NEXT year, so I got a ways to wait.
We as a society need to get our priorities start on what is important in the world. Yes is good to know that LOTR:FOTR won 4 awards which they desevered but that information should be in the entertantment section where it belongs, not the front page where important news should be.
I completely agree.
When I look in the newspaper, I want to only read about the horrible atrocities that get me depressed about the state of our nation. There should be absolutely nothing pleasing at all on my front page, because I don't care if someone's happy. I only care about the sad things, and that's all I want to read about.
So does this mean that since I agree with the Slashdot editors on the DMCA, RIAA, MPAA, Microsoft, Rambus, and Scientology, that I also agree with them on 100% of the other issues in the world? Just these six topics mean that I agree with them on EVERYTHING?
That's a legit question, I'm just a little confused at your logic and would love to have it explained a little further.
If it pierced the atmosphere, the approximately 70-meter-long rock could have disintegrated and unleashed the energy equivalent of a 4-megaton nuclear bomb, researchers said.
"If it were over a populated area, like Atlanta, it would have basically flattened it," said Gareth Williams, associate director of the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Thanks for telling me how dead I'd be if it hit here. Couldn't you have talked about it hitting somewhere where I don't live? Like Kabul, or something? Maybe Baghdad?
Sony PlayStation 2 Linux Banned from CeBIT
on
Great gadgets at CeBIT
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I just read a post here written by someone at SCEA confirming that CeBIT required all PlayStations to be removed from the show floor - even though they were not showing any games. (You can't play games at CeBIT, which I understand and agree with - but the Linux kit isn't a video game.) She even mentions that the signs with the apology could not mention the name PlayStation - they had to refer to it as "our computer system".
This was a gadget I was wanting to hear about from CeBIT, too bad I won't be able to.
What's the point of this? There's only one banner ad at the top, which is non-intrusive and I don't really notice it. Heck, I even like to see some of the cool stuff at thinkgeek once in a while (although I never buy anything). I don't know how much money you'll get from this.
According to the article you didn't read (even though it's at the top of the story)...
To understand why the system works like it does, you need to first understand that Slashdot is about to start accepting new ad formats. The large ads that you see on many other sites are coming here. We really don't have an option: these are what advertisers want, and if we don't provide them, we won't be around much longer.
That means we'll start getting the huge ads you see on Wired or Salon or whatever. They want to give us an option to never see them.
Am I the only one who is saddened at the thought of the ISS project losing the money that they would have gotten from Lance's tourism? I mean, if he's fit, passes the requirements, and he's got the money, I say, PLEASE give it to the ISS!
I mean, sure, I don't listen to the group and never will...But I'm all for expanding into space. The problem is that the ISS is running low on funds...It would be A Good Thing for space tourism to help further the project.
I have read the/. hive wishing the ISS project would get more money.
I have just read that the/. hive is happy that the ISS project is not getting that money from an excited young man just because he happens to sell alot of albums to 12 year old girls.
I am confused. Which happens regularly on/. these days, it seems.
Fortunately, I've yet to see an outlandish proposal (billboard displays, newspaper ads, etc.) fail, and this was no exception.
Was at a hockey game one night and the traditional using-the-arena-scoreboard thing came up. The couple was shown, the guy kneeled down, and showed the ring. She put her hand over her mouth, stared at it for a few seconds, SHOOK HER HEAD, and ran off. I believe it was even on TV, but I can't remember.
The camera cut away real quick so we didn't see the guy upset.
I've been rather upset at all the people defending TiVo because they have an 'opt-out' policy and that their e-mails to their customers update them about changes to the privacy statement. Apparently it doesn't matter that there have been several posts indicating that they send a log of all of the IR messages the TiVo receives correlated to the zip code.
...Which has been proven to not be sent when you do opt-out. My linux box keeps a history of every single command I type in cli...You don't see me complaining about it, do you? Oh wait, Linux doesn't send anybody my history...But then again, I opted out of TiVo's Data Collecting, and ran a packet sniffer, and TiVo didn't get my history files either once I opted out, where they did before.
I won't buy a TIVO because I don't need yet another friggin' company recording every last thing I do. It's sickening.
They don't record every last thing I do. They don't know where I sit on my couch, or if my kittens like to curl up next to me or on the back of the sofa. It doesn't record what I eat when I watch TV, how many lights I have on, or if my hair is pulled back or loose.
It keeps track of what I watch, sure...But I opted out of them actually acquiring the data from my box. The packet sniffer I ran during a daily call actually told me that it wasn't sending them my viewing habits once I opted out. Although, it was kind of nice for them to know that I liked MST3K and Babylon 5...And hopefully they would have used it to have Scifi keep them on the air.
There actually was (is?) a support group somewhere about EverQuest addiction, where people post their stories about how they were addicted and how they got out of it to save their marriage.
They have also gone so far as to attempt a class action lawsuit against Verant, much like the one that was (is?) being attempted against tobacco industries. They say that Verant is profiting off of the addiction of others, and should pay the consequences.
They also threatened to protest at an EverQuest Fan Faire, and hand out flyers about how evil EQ was. They never showed up, but there was security looking for them anyway to keep them off of the premesis.
Personally, I feel that the point of a game is to get you hooked, Verant seems to have done a great job of that...Almost too great.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually the Pong stops on May 1st. The test feed will then be done with and they'll be showing real content.
Would boring bland color bars been more acceptable?
Thank you for playing, though.
Nope, it's no joke. You're just taking it the wrong way.
It's a test feed before the real programming starts on May 1st - they just decided to run Pong instead of boring color bars with a low tone for a week.
I thought it was really a creative way to get interest in the channel. Guess I was wrong.
The press release is no joke - they really are showing Pong. But the reason behind it is because EVERY cable TV network has to test their feed before they truly go live. MOST networks do something boring like color bars with a low tone. G4 decided to be CREATIVE and show Pong for ONE WEEK and everybody gets all over them. The real programming starts on May 1st.
It figures, though. The last time G4 was announced on Slashdot in November, it got a very heavy critisizm that it wouldn't work from CmdrTaco. I submitted the story it was launching 3 times last week and it was rejected. I guess they were waiting for a NEGATIVE story to come in before covering it at all. So I guess Slashdot will be unsupportive of the new network. Yet I bet if they showed Linux all the time it would be hailed as the second coming.
I have never been in a best buy where each register didn't have at least two people waiting in line. I've stopped shopping there since twice they've had register wait times of over 15 minutes or more.
Actually, I've had the distinct pleasure of waiting 15 minutes in a line that then CLOSED - and they moved us all to a line that did NOT accept credit cards. I was told to either go to the back of another line or leave the premesis by a manager.
A retailer told me recently that Microsoft is gonna keep pumping money into the XBox just to keep it on store shelves for about 5 years or so. So, it won't go away like the Dreamcast did, it will just clutter up store shelves.
My personal conspiriacy theory is that they ARE gonna take XBox's off the shelves and put in their PVR and other stuff to make XBox 2.0 the "ultimate convergence box" that was the big thing in 1998.
There's nothing wrong with playing games per se, but I think that games where you do cool stuff you never usually do, like fly jet fighters, and games where you achieve something more than holding a text converstaion with another similar loser, are far superior.
Please tell me where in "real life" I can go slay orcs and dragons, and cast really big pretty magic spells.
When I heard of people getting 'married' in these games, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I guess being happy for someone actually enjoying themselves is not an option for you, huh. They gotta either enjoy it your way or be pitied by you, even if they're having fun.
I was wondering when they were gonna finally say something about the lack of anonymous posting on April Fools.
/. hive mentality...No, never...Not me...
Not that I'd EVER post anonymously when I post against the
I was wrong, too. How awful.
Here's straight from the FAQ:
Shouldn't be that hard, since I'm pretty sure that code written with PS2 Linux use the same hardware calls as the professional dev stations. The professional dev stations use Linux themselves, albeit a more souped up version.
According to the article, while it's possible to go to the metal with Linux, the major question I would ask is ... Linux APIs =? Native APIs.
If I want to program in the Linux API, I can just use my Linux PC that I got here next to me. The Linux kit will offer direct access to the PS2 proprietary video and rendering engine, which is what I want to get my grubby little hands on.
And everyone else mentioned the broadband adapter, so I won't do the whole "me too!" thing.
How easy would it be to port it to a 'native' PS2 game, one that could be sold commercially? Or if not sold, maybe Sony could distribute it for low cost to push sales and I could get some fame as a game developer that way.... any thoughts? I just don't want develop games that so few people could end up playing.
I believe (key word, don't quote me on this) that Sony won't be looking to distribute your work unless you pay the high licensing fee. The PS2 Linux game platform is for HOBBYISTS, who want to get their feet wet. I'm not sure how "famous" you'd get developing games using the PS2 Linux Kit. Only people with the Linux Kit would be able to play your games. I'm personally using it more as a learning experience and a resume builder. (Hey look, I can use the PS2GL! Hire me!)
A lot of people are saying it's not all that useful because it can't play DVD's in Linux and stuff...I want to get it because it allows you direct access to the PS2 graphics hardware and will give me some experience in programming console games. I would have killed to have gotten a Net Yaroze (for the original PlayStation) just to get to play around with it. With the Net Yaroze, you developed on a PC and uploaded about a meg and a half max through a paralell port. At least now I can develop on the box (through ethernet) and play my game right there, and then send it to other people with PS2 Linux.
Would you want to make this your only Linux box? Not really. Make it a server? Nope, not really. Use it as a way to program PS2 games without paying the extraordinarily high Sony licensing fees? Yep. That's what I'm using it for.
If I want to hack Linux, I'll just hack the linux PC I already own.
I'm not gonna argue about any of the GSM or any of the technical stuff, but the features of I-Mode and just the cell phones in general really amazed me, and showed how primitive my Nokia 5165 really was after spending a week visiting a friend in Japan. 16-bit color graphics, 32-voice polyphonic sound (so your ringtones can be that much more annoying), digital cameras, videoconferencing (available in December 2002), and the java games...In one of the booklets I brought back, it showed that you could play Street Fighter II on your cell phone, and it looked almost as good as a Gameboy Color screen, and it was even back-lit.
Of course, the arguments AGAINST this kind of technology is because "you shouldn't be playing games on your cell phone". The mentality explains why they're popular in Japan but not here - at least in Tokyo, you spend a lot of time on public transportation, since it's really good there. What you would do on the trains is open up your DoCoMo and read the news or play a game while going to your destination. In America, you spend most of your time in private transportation (cars) - where you should NOT be playing a game or reading the news on a cell phone. (I fully support any legislation that forces the use of hands-free devices when you're driving)
And the funny thing was on one of the trains. There were signs in the cabin asking you not to use your cell phone at your seat to not disturb the other passengers. Then, in between cars (where you can use them), there's a sign that says that J-Phone (the other provider) is equipping all of the tunnels in Tokyo with receivers so you can still use your phone when you go under a tunnel. So they're saying "Please don't use your cell phones on the train, but we're gonna make it easier for you to use your cell phone on the train!"
So now I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of even a low-end DoCoMo to the US - and unfortunately I've heard that Atlanta will not be GSM compliant until the beginning of NEXT year, so I got a ways to wait.
We as a society need to get our priorities start on what is important in the world. Yes is good to know that LOTR:FOTR won 4 awards which they desevered but that information should be in the entertantment section where it belongs, not the front page where important news should be.
I completely agree.
When I look in the newspaper, I want to only read about the horrible atrocities that get me depressed about the state of our nation. There should be absolutely nothing pleasing at all on my front page, because I don't care if someone's happy. I only care about the sad things, and that's all I want to read about.
So does this mean that since I agree with the Slashdot editors on the DMCA, RIAA, MPAA, Microsoft, Rambus, and Scientology, that I also agree with them on 100% of the other issues in the world? Just these six topics mean that I agree with them on EVERYTHING?
That's a legit question, I'm just a little confused at your logic and would love to have it explained a little further.
If it pierced the atmosphere, the approximately 70-meter-long rock could have disintegrated and unleashed the energy equivalent
of a 4-megaton nuclear bomb, researchers said.
"If it were over a populated area, like Atlanta, it would have basically flattened it," said Gareth Williams, associate director of the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Thanks for telling me how dead I'd be if it hit here. Couldn't you have talked about it hitting somewhere where I don't live? Like Kabul, or something? Maybe Baghdad?
I just read a post here written by someone at SCEA confirming that CeBIT required all PlayStations to be removed from the show floor - even though they were not showing any games. (You can't play games at CeBIT, which I understand and agree with - but the Linux kit isn't a video game.) She even mentions that the signs with the apology could not mention the name PlayStation - they had to refer to it as "our computer system".
This was a gadget I was wanting to hear about from CeBIT, too bad I won't be able to.
What's the point of this? There's only one banner ad at the top, which is non-intrusive and I don't really notice it. Heck, I even like to see some of the cool stuff at thinkgeek once in a while (although I never buy anything). I don't know how much money you'll get from this.
According to the article you didn't read (even though it's at the top of the story)...
To understand why the system works like it does, you need to first understand that Slashdot is about to start accepting new ad formats. The large ads that you see on many other sites are coming here. We really don't have an option: these are what advertisers want, and if we don't provide them, we won't be around much longer.
That means we'll start getting the huge ads you see on Wired or Salon or whatever. They want to give us an option to never see them.
Am I the only one who is saddened at the thought of the ISS project losing the money that they would have gotten from Lance's tourism? I mean, if he's fit, passes the requirements, and he's got the money, I say, PLEASE give it to the ISS!
/. hive wishing the ISS project would get more money.
/. hive is happy that the ISS project is not getting that money from an excited young man just because he happens to sell alot of albums to 12 year old girls.
/. these days, it seems.
I mean, sure, I don't listen to the group and never will...But I'm all for expanding into space. The problem is that the ISS is running low on funds...It would be A Good Thing for space tourism to help further the project.
I have read the
I have just read that the
I am confused. Which happens regularly on
Fortunately, I've yet to see an outlandish proposal (billboard displays, newspaper ads, etc.) fail, and this was no exception.
Was at a hockey game one night and the traditional using-the-arena-scoreboard thing came up. The couple was shown, the guy kneeled down, and showed the ring. She put her hand over her mouth, stared at it for a few seconds, SHOOK HER HEAD, and ran off. I believe it was even on TV, but I can't remember.
The camera cut away real quick so we didn't see the guy upset.
I've been rather upset at all the people defending TiVo because they have an 'opt-out' policy and that their e-mails to their customers update them about changes to the privacy statement. Apparently it doesn't matter that there have been several posts indicating that they send a log of all of the IR messages the TiVo receives correlated to the zip code.
...Which has been proven to not be sent when you do opt-out. My linux box keeps a history of every single command I type in cli...You don't see me complaining about it, do you? Oh wait, Linux doesn't send anybody my history...But then again, I opted out of TiVo's Data Collecting, and ran a packet sniffer, and TiVo didn't get my history files either once I opted out, where they did before.
I won't buy a TIVO because I don't need yet another friggin' company recording every last thing I do. It's sickening.
They don't record every last thing I do. They don't know where I sit on my couch, or if my kittens like to curl up next to me or on the back of the sofa. It doesn't record what I eat when I watch TV, how many lights I have on, or if my hair is pulled back or loose.
It keeps track of what I watch, sure...But I opted out of them actually acquiring the data from my box. The packet sniffer I ran during a daily call actually told me that it wasn't sending them my viewing habits once I opted out. Although, it was kind of nice for them to know that I liked MST3K and Babylon 5...And hopefully they would have used it to have Scifi keep them on the air.
So...I'm wondering what you're complaining about.
For the gamer, the game should first and foremost be FUN.
I don't know about you, but as a gamer, it's impossible for me to get hooked on a game that isn't fun in the first place.
There actually was (is?) a support group somewhere about EverQuest addiction, where people post their stories about how they were addicted and how they got out of it to save their marriage.
They have also gone so far as to attempt a class action lawsuit against Verant, much like the one that was (is?) being attempted against tobacco industries. They say that Verant is profiting off of the addiction of others, and should pay the consequences.
They also threatened to protest at an EverQuest Fan Faire, and hand out flyers about how evil EQ was. They never showed up, but there was security looking for them anyway to keep them off of the premesis.
Personally, I feel that the point of a game is to get you hooked, Verant seems to have done a great job of that...Almost too great.
Didn't we just hear about this the other day?
This article references the one we already had about the Norrath Economical Report...