"Well, I suppose guns can be a form of utilitarian art, certainly, but thats not the argument used to defend them (it's pretty hard to defend guns under Free Speech when they really have their own amendment, too)."
That's true:) My note re: gun aesthetics / artistic content was just a tangent, really... the same kind of argument could be made about any kind of artistic expression. (Did you hear about the fish-in-blender "art"?)
Guns can be and are defended on what I consider much stronger grounds; I would not base a defense of an armed populace on the grounds that I could inscribe the text of the Constitution on the barrel of a shotgun. However, I am also not going to go into gun arguments in this comment.
"But circumventing the existing, supposedly-effective ratings is silly, and making an accross-the-board statement in regards to only one particular form of violence is just idiotic."
Agreed! I love voluntary ratings systems, they're fine by me, a great way for people actually get something *done* with their freedoms to associate, speak freely, and publish. Consumer reports is the tip of the iceberg. Similarly, it's great (IMO) that various organizations organized around a common moral code publish movie reviews, organize boycotts of products they find offensive, etc. Great, that is a real part of what free markets are about. (The freedom not only to choose particular products, but to choose *how to choose.*)
"Certainly, violent video games deserve some restriction."
On this, I'd say it depends on what you mean by restriction. Since I like free markets, I'd rather the restriction be on the part of merchants (who should be free to *not* sell to kids if that would offend their sensibilities) and parents (if they're the ones giving the money, they should have line-item veto power, and if providers of room and board, probably even if they're *not* giving the money.) I don't think it's any of the State's business, though.
You wrote: Conversely, guns are hardly any remote form of artistic expression, while the nature of video games implies that they should enjoy the same protections as art and individual expression as a whole."
Without getting into the larger argument right not, I'd like to object to that statement about 'artistic expression.' Other purposes aside, guns have been used for the basis of artistic design for hundreds of years.
First, guns can be beautifully designed, whether they're specifically decorated or not. There's no accounting for taste, and no two people's aesthetics will match up completely, but as an example, I find the Steyr Scout rifle a good-looking gun. I imagine that most people do not... so what?:) But that there is artistic expression involved in the design of guns is hard to deny, even when that expression is in the form of "make it look utterly plain and utilitarian."
Intentional decoration is another thing entirely -- there are elaborately inlaid, etched, colored, and otherwise jazzed-up guns (that site is randomly grabbed from google) that make scrimshaw look like chickenscratch (Well, except for the ones that incorporate scrimshaw:)) They're not my thing, but they do take a lot of talent and time.
(Oh, and the Washington law is disgusting to me, btw... 1) I agree with you that videogames can be a legitimate means of expression, and 2) I don't like to see a privileged class, protected by law because of their profession to a greater degree than any other citizen.)
I also really like the drop-down-to-google (or other selected search engine) that I get in Mozilla. The search bar might be cool in addition, but being able to search google with the down arrow is something I'll miss if I switch to Firebird. Perhaps it could be implemented as an option?
OTOH I should one of these days bother to set up a bunch of helpful keywords...
Re: webcam in car, eh, not everyone wants one. I get some odd ideas that have thus far not made me rich, which "gives you an idea of how effective the whole thing is." I think it's interesting in general to track where I am or have been...
Re: how silly the middle two uses are, well, playing previously squashed ogg files would be a lot less important if I hadn't already ripped so many CDs (a few hundred) to my hard drive. I listen mostly to audiobooks when on long drives, some of which come on 4 or 6 CDs... it's a lot simpler to have them ripped in advance than change disks while in the car. (Until I install a modchip, I will be putting a few of my CDs on there so it has some use as a jukebox.) And watching movies etc in the car is definitely the lowest priority thing on that list, but it's still a real thing I'd like to be able to do. YMMV:)
(I'm not sure how well the resolution of the xbox will work for it, but another application I'd like on there is Roadmap, a GPS-based mapping program for Linux. (If it works for the Zaurus, I bet the xbox could work, too;))
Pretty obvious, I'm sure, but probably the biggest reason I'd like to have a computer in my car is out of curiosity / interest, much more than any specific application it may find.
timothy
cromwell bios should be totally legit ...
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you wrote: "so the only way to make this work legally is to transfer ownership (probably physically) to the modchip seller temporarilly. Or else sell a kit with a blank bios and means to write/patch the bios yourself."
I don't know why that should be true with the Cromwell BIOS, since it contains no MS code and does not allow running of unsigned code. (I'm not presenting that as a final argument -- it's just my understanding that the Cromwell BIOS is completely legal and aboveboard.)
Not to be contrary, but to your lettered points...
a) True enough, and that's all I *have* been doing with mine so far:)
b) I was surprised to notice this (the copying feature) when I hooked mine up. I own no xbox games, I popped in an audio CD to see whether it would play (basically testing the drive, since I knew from the startup splash that the xbox itself was functional...) and it gave me the option to copy the disk. I suppose this is pretty basic, but I really don't know much about the as-intended use of the xbox, and before 2 days ago knew even less. wrt to "how much trouble could it possibly be," well... it would be a lot of duplicated effort, that's all. Most of my CDs I've already put into cold storage after burning to my hard drive.
c) Yes, it's actually my Futurama 1st season box set that I'd like to squash on there. I don't have any illegally downloaded episodes / never have, no plans to pursue any:)
d) Webcam / Digital Video Recorder. In the last 3 years I've driven about 60,000 miles, and out of 1) curiosity / for the same reason I take a lot of photos at all and 2) in some hopefully unlikely but certainly possible situations, it would be useful to have proof that The Other Guy ran the red light, or swerved into my lane, or whatever. Similar to the reasons that cops (and people in certain other professions) have video cameras in their cars.
You don't have to agree with me, or want to do the same:)
The xbox mediaplayer website says (in the FAQ) "For legal reasons, no Xbox(TM) binaries will be released from us or distributed by us until a legal non-MS compiler is available (so please do not ask for any files not posted here). (Note! XDK compiled binaries are NOT released or distributed by the XboxMediaPlayer team). Do not ask or e-mail us requesting any Xbox files or asking where they can be downloaded from, thanks."
Can anyone comment on when this might no longer be true?
timothy
Modchips don't have to be illegal
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· Score: 2, Interesting
rsilvergun wrote: Still, I don't like the idea of relying on something so patently illegal (note: I said illegal, not immoral) as modchips.
I know you also said "[xbox hacking] provides a real, legit, fair use reason for modchips," but I don't think your first statement is correct. A modchip loaded with an illegally BIOS would be illegal -- but for one that's blank, or loaded with the Cromwell BIOS, I don't know why that should be true.
And on that note, a no-solder modchip with the Cromwell bios seems like a reasonable enough upgrade -- less than the cost of the ethernet module for a Dreamcast:)
timothy
just bought one ...
on
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I paid $150 for a used Xbox from an EB Games in Florida, and (not technically part of the Xbox, but now intimately connected;)) a clip-on LCD screen from intec. That was also $150, so, so far I've spent $300, but I know I need to purchase at least one more thing, which is either a modchip or a memory thingie loaded with the buffer-overflow code from the 007 game.
The reason I spent so much for a (tiny -- 5.4") LCD screen is that (so I was told by the EB clerk, at least:)) the xbox won't run without a video output connected, and I bought this to run in my car.
(Pawn-shopping, I might have found one cheaper, but... EB I figure has a decent reputation, and if the box was broke, I'd have better luck there than at Ed's Pawn & Guns.)
I have already downloaded one live-ISO distro for the thing (dynebolic); until I have a modchip, though, it's just a clunky but surprisingly good-sounding CD player. (The speakers on the intec screen are not outstanding, but they're decent for my tin ears.)
Why an xbox for the car? You don't have to agree with my reasoning, or taste (of which I have none), but my thoughts go like this:
1) I want a CD player for the car. I don't have one, and I happen to like my head unit (an oldish but *old* Blaupunkt system with a simple, logical control layout and a line-in), so I'd rather not pay for a CD head unit. (I also think most of them have terrible control layouts, just really bizarre design decisions.) CD player is for some music, and for the audiobooks that Cracker Barrel conveniently stocks for $3/week;)
2) I'd like an ogg player for the car. I've been compressing my CD collection to ogg, and it's a lot simpler to carry 3 CD-Rs than 30 CDs.
3) When stopped (or for passengers) I think a video screen is neat in a car. Futurama in DiVX, for instance. Frivolous? Yes. I would not like to spend thousands of dollars on a video system, but as a nudge toward the xbox as a possible do-everything car computer, it works.
4) With a USB hub attached and a GNU/Linux system installed, I'm hoping I can hook up a web cam and use is as a low-tech DVR for the car.
I don't care too much about games per se, and will probably be using a no-solder modchip with the Cromwell BIOS, so Xbox games are probably out, but Frozen Bubble...
If anyone would like to offer a memory card with the hack that makes a modchip unnecessary (for a fair price), let me know quick, before I order a regular modchip:)
In the case of paper ballots, it seems like error-checking should be used more (and earlier) than it presently is.
1) Ballots should be designed such that they are human readable as well as machine readable (scantron-style is OK; require filling in the blank as well as choosing the right circle, and make the circles large and well separated...)
2) give half of the ballots to Consolidated American Votecounters, half to TallyMaster Inc, in round-number batches. Make them swap when they're done with each batch. Spot check various batches for agreement.
I've downloaded the ISO but not yet had a chance to burn. So, with that disclaimer (that is, I have not yet used it), I would like to point out that the dyne::bolic Linux distro is alleged to run on Xbox. (Modded only -- "of course," says the lead developer;) -- oh well, no Xbox prize!)
If it works well for me on a standard PC, I might buy an Xbox as an in-car audio / video player:)
2) I'd hire a sculpture student, a metal shop or a custom furniture designer to create a large metal arch with support points built in in order to support one or more largish LCD panels. The arch should be tall enough that one could sit on the chair in its fully reclined position, facing up at the monitors. It would have to be dis-assemble-able for transport:) Let's budget $1500 for this, too, for round numbers, but it shouldn't cost that much. (Note that it need not look like a museum piece; more like curved truss.)
3) So, vs. a budget for the featured compu-chari thing of $7800, this approach leaves us with about $5000. Two VIA EPIA systems with 512MB RAM, DVD+CDRW drives and 120GB hard drives in small cases could be assembled for $500 apiece, so there's another thousand. Down to $4000 for displays and input. One of these systems should have a video capture card, and one could be equipped with a dual-out PCI video card.
4) Buy two decent but budget-friendly 19" LCDs (Samsung look decent, so do some Mitsubishis). $1500 is generous for a pair. Mount to the metal arc.
5) Put $2500 in the bank. Get into the spaceship thus created, work, play etc.
related note; the older On2 codec which has become the basis of Ogg Theora isn't dead: Ogg Theora is listed as supported in the newest version of Xine, as mentioned yesterday.
1. To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.
2. To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.
3. To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.
4. To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.
5. To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.
6. To make less strict; relax: a leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.
(this is according to my dad) is that long before they were widely deployed in the U.S., cateyes were in place on English roads. The U.S. highway system (not to mention all the smaller roads) involves many more road miles, so it's not surprising that cateyes still are not everywhere, but my father says they saved his life a few times when driving through London fog.
In the U.S. by contrast they are rather spottily deployed, but much appreciated when they're in place. Badly marked roads are a pet peeve which I hope one day does not kill me. Paint's getting better too, so there are some places where the road divider markings eliminate the need for separate cateyes, but that too is only in some places.
Well, they're separate issues, but both ones I have rants to spare;)
circles: As a long-time Maryland resident, an absence of traffic circles is one thing I used to grant the state credit for, especially after a trip to Massachusetts. Up there, despite years of familiarity, the drivers seem intent on making the rotaries dangerous. Yield to traffic in circle?! Well... sometimes. But you mean we have to do it *all* the time? The big ones in D.C. are even worse. Now Howard County has the fashionable traffic circle bug, and it's an irritation to drive certain routes because of it. I *do* like the fact that they allow a minimal flow when otherwise none might be afforded, as you point out, but Ack. Normally, my family does not agree on everything, but the fact that my parents and siblings are with me on this surely says *something* about them.
Licensure: You are right. For instance, when I got my own license, I was (I know in retrospect) seriously underprepared and overconfident. I wonder if there's a good market for serious driving schools. It would be good if it was approached more like flight school. Driving schools in the U.S. are often *required* (at least below a certain age; I waited until 18 for my license so technically I don't think I needed to have taken the course, but I did take one...) but often perfunctory. Sign the dotted line, take some multiple choice tests, get a few hours with a lax instructor....
It would be better with video analysis, many more hours logged (and I mean logged, with notes), and greater knowledge demonstrated of laws, car parts and driving situation responses.
So I did. $200 at Target for a standalone copying machine, works fine with 700MB disks (as I was afraid it might not).
Knoppix is a blast -- there is *some* hardware it chokes on (or vice versa, depends how you count), but for the most part on modern hardware it boots up, and BAM, there's a lovely KDE 3.1 desktop, mozilla, etc.
I keep meaning to (haven't yet) created a nice stock to keep in my car as random giveaways...
Just about a year CHiPs were stopping the shredders in California over a $95 million deal with Oracle in which evidently far, far more licenses than were strictly necessary were purchased by the state.
You don't generally get $85 million kickback-smelling deals with free software. Is it possible? Yes, or at least it could be if companies like Red Hat (or the old incarnation of VA Software:)) were the size of companies like Oracle and Microsoft. But for the immediate future, using open source means never having to say "You're Busted!"
I've never been to England, and mean no offense -- my experiences with roundabouts (or rotaries, or traffic circles, or Dante's Circles...) started in Massachusetts (they're widespread there) and in Washington DC (where they're big and dangerous). Now they're adding them in central Maryland, evidently because Marylanders are masochists.
You may choose routes based on avoiding red lights, which is understandable, but I often choose mine by minimizing my exposure to rotaries.
Therefore, if I visit England, I will try to occupy passenger seats and buses more than driver's seats;)
183 also has more names than it needs. Research. Bluebonnet Parkway. (And, uh, 183, with the confusing direction confusion you noted.) [I hope I haven't just misremembered those...]
Manor -- pronounced *how*?! It look a while for that one to sink in. I never said Guadaloop, too stubborn.
You forgot: Manchaca ("man-SHACK") and Koenig ("CANE-ig"). And the multiple 1st, 2nd, etc. streets (again, my memory is poor, but iirc, they start over south of town lake).
However, Mopac is good -- I used to think it was a bizarre name, but the origin makes it OK: The Missouri-Pacific Railway. Now, calling it "Loop 1" at the same time, that's less cool.
GPS machines need to be made smarter so the average $50 GPS device from Walmart can at least say "You are going south on MoPac, also known as Loop 1."
Money taken from me in the form of taxes (and the state of Texas has gotten quite a bit from me in the form of sales taxes in the years I lived there) has a different set of responsibilities attached than money being spent by a private enterprise. General Welfare, all that.
The thing about using open source code, and in particular when necessary paying for improvements to it, is that it's hard to see when this does *not* benefit the general welfare, assuming that the State in its usual infinite wisdom does not care to save / not spend other people's money in the first place.
Given that government agencies (hey, same is true at large corporations) like to spend money (and face disincentives to not spend at least up to their alloted budgets), let's say they're going to spend the same total money for particular tasks on either a) proprietary software + customization / integration and supportor b) Freely available software + customization / integration and support. That may be fanciful (despite optimism and propaganda on both sides), but I think it's actually a conservative guess.
At the end of the day / project / whatever, there's some code (still in existence) and whatever additions have been made to it. If there are additions that are somehow tied to the state government itself (ties to certain databases or weird data formats, etc) and they're modular enough, there could even be some cross-project advantages.
Also, one key advantage I've not noticed anyone mention in this thread is the fact that open source code (whether the FSF calls it Free or not) can be audited and justified a lot more easily than closed source apps. For one thing, I'd like to see tax-funded software be aggressively bid on; if code is open by policy, then improving it etc can be chased after by programmers / small software firms. It doesn't have to mean switching entire software systems...
So, this will be sent to a panel of three watchers, huh? Will they suppress the minority report?
The parallel is not exact (far from it), but I bought / read the short story yesterday and was thinking how far ahead of his time PKD was (as usual) in describing such systems. Walker's system (as described) is closer to Orwell I suppose, but the 3-watchers bit jumped out at me.
timothy
Two people who need examples of these drives :)
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1) Klaus Knopper. If he can put 2 Gigs of software into a 700MB iso, I'd like him to have the (compatible as advertised?) 1000MB version to play with, too.
2) Jorg Schilling, whose cdrtools is the easiest (well, my favorite) way to burn ISOs under Linux, for obvious reasons;)
Same here. Most of the x-many (16?) bulbs in the dashboard of my 1995 Escort were burned out, and I resorted to a clipped-on LED flashlight for a while (the light from which is actually much more pleasing than the stock, "working" lightbulb situation -- the LED cast a very nice pool of light). Girlfriend pressure --> 'fixed' but what a hassle. Even with the borrowed labor of a car-fixing friend, it was a royal pain.
It's unconscionable to stick such inherently perishable parts (incandescent bulbs) into such an inherently inaccessable, inherently expensive (in time and money) spot. Many (most?) new cars are at least using some sort of electroluminescent stuff instead, maybe some are using banks of LEDs, I don't know...
And rube goldberg as it sounds, I liked the flashlight for one other reason: it was simpler to click it off when I wanted than to find the rheostat for my dashboard, which is located in a tricky spot.
Slashdot Mirror
"Well, I suppose guns can be a form of utilitarian art, certainly, but thats not the argument used to defend them (it's pretty hard to defend guns under Free Speech when they really have their own amendment, too)."
:) My note re: gun aesthetics / artistic content was just a tangent, really ... the same kind of argument could be made about any kind of artistic expression. (Did you hear about the fish-in-blender "art"?)
That's true
Guns can be and are defended on what I consider much stronger grounds; I would not base a defense of an armed populace on the grounds that I could inscribe the text of the Constitution on the barrel of a shotgun. However, I am also not going to go into gun arguments in this comment.
"But circumventing the existing, supposedly-effective ratings is silly, and making an accross-the-board statement in regards to only one particular form of violence is just idiotic."
Agreed! I love voluntary ratings systems, they're fine by me, a great way for people actually get something *done* with their freedoms to associate, speak freely, and publish. Consumer reports is the tip of the iceberg. Similarly, it's great (IMO) that various organizations organized around a common moral code publish movie reviews, organize boycotts of products they find offensive, etc. Great, that is a real part of what free markets are about. (The freedom not only to choose particular products, but to choose *how to choose.*)
"Certainly, violent video games deserve some restriction."
On this, I'd say it depends on what you mean by restriction. Since I like free markets, I'd rather the restriction be on the part of merchants (who should be free to *not* sell to kids if that would offend their sensibilities) and parents (if they're the ones giving the money, they should have line-item veto power, and if providers of room and board, probably even if they're *not* giving the money.) I don't think it's any of the State's business, though.
timothy
You wrote: Conversely, guns are hardly any remote form of artistic expression, while the nature of video games implies that they should enjoy the same protections as art and individual expression as a whole."
... so what? :) But that there is artistic expression involved in the design of guns is hard to deny, even when that expression is in the form of "make it look utterly plain and utilitarian."
:)) They're not my thing, but they do take a lot of talent and time.
... 1) I agree with you that videogames can be a legitimate means of expression, and 2) I don't like to see a privileged class, protected by law because of their profession to a greater degree than any other citizen.)
Without getting into the larger argument right not, I'd like to object to that statement about 'artistic expression.' Other purposes aside, guns have been used for the basis of artistic design for hundreds of years.
First, guns can be beautifully designed, whether they're specifically decorated or not. There's no accounting for taste, and no two people's aesthetics will match up completely, but as an example, I find the Steyr Scout rifle a good-looking gun. I imagine that most people do not
Intentional decoration is another thing entirely -- there are elaborately inlaid, etched, colored, and otherwise jazzed-up guns (that site is randomly grabbed from google) that make scrimshaw look like chickenscratch (Well, except for the ones that incorporate scrimshaw
(Oh, and the Washington law is disgusting to me, btw
timothy
Asa:
...
I also really like the drop-down-to-google (or other selected search engine) that I get in Mozilla. The search bar might be cool in addition, but being able to search google with the down arrow is something I'll miss if I switch to Firebird. Perhaps it could be implemented as an option?
OTOH I should one of these days bother to set up a bunch of helpful keywords
timothy
Re: webcam in car, eh, not everyone wants one. I get some odd ideas that have thus far not made me rich, which "gives you an idea of how effective the whole thing is." I think it's interesting in general to track where I am or have been ...
... it's a lot simpler to have them ripped in advance than change disks while in the car. (Until I install a modchip, I will be putting a few of my CDs on there so it has some use as a jukebox.) And watching movies etc in the car is definitely the lowest priority thing on that list, but it's still a real thing I'd like to be able to do. YMMV :)
;))
Re: how silly the middle two uses are, well, playing previously squashed ogg files would be a lot less important if I hadn't already ripped so many CDs (a few hundred) to my hard drive. I listen mostly to audiobooks when on long drives, some of which come on 4 or 6 CDs
(I'm not sure how well the resolution of the xbox will work for it, but another application I'd like on there is Roadmap, a GPS-based mapping program for Linux. (If it works for the Zaurus, I bet the xbox could work, too
Pretty obvious, I'm sure, but probably the biggest reason I'd like to have a computer in my car is out of curiosity / interest, much more than any specific application it may find.
timothy
you wrote: "so the only way to make this work legally is to transfer ownership (probably physically) to the modchip seller temporarilly. Or else sell a kit with a blank bios and means to write/patch the bios yourself."
I don't know why that should be true with the Cromwell BIOS, since it contains no MS code and does not allow running of unsigned code. (I'm not presenting that as a final argument -- it's just my understanding that the Cromwell BIOS is completely legal and aboveboard.)
timothy
Not to be contrary, but to your lettered points ...
:)
...) and it gave me the option to copy the disk. I suppose this is pretty basic, but I really don't know much about the as-intended use of the xbox, and before 2 days ago knew even less. wrt to "how much trouble could it possibly be," well ... it would be a lot of duplicated effort, that's all. Most of my CDs I've already put into cold storage after burning to my hard drive.
:)
:)
a) True enough, and that's all I *have* been doing with mine so far
b) I was surprised to notice this (the copying feature) when I hooked mine up. I own no xbox games, I popped in an audio CD to see whether it would play (basically testing the drive, since I knew from the startup splash that the xbox itself was functional
c) Yes, it's actually my Futurama 1st season box set that I'd like to squash on there. I don't have any illegally downloaded episodes / never have, no plans to pursue any
d) Webcam / Digital Video Recorder. In the last 3 years I've driven about 60,000 miles, and out of 1) curiosity / for the same reason I take a lot of photos at all and 2) in some hopefully unlikely but certainly possible situations, it would be useful to have proof that The Other Guy ran the red light, or swerved into my lane, or whatever. Similar to the reasons that cops (and people in certain other professions) have video cameras in their cars.
You don't have to agree with me, or want to do the same
timothy
The xbox mediaplayer website says (in the FAQ) "For legal reasons, no Xbox(TM) binaries will be released from us or distributed by us until a legal non-MS compiler is available (so please do not ask for any files not posted here). (Note! XDK compiled binaries are NOT released or distributed by the XboxMediaPlayer team). Do not ask or e-mail us requesting any Xbox files or asking where they can be downloaded from, thanks."
Can anyone comment on when this might no longer be true?
timothy
rsilvergun wrote: Still, I don't like the idea of relying on something so patently illegal (note: I said illegal, not immoral) as modchips.
:)
I know you also said "[xbox hacking] provides a real, legit, fair use reason for modchips," but I don't think your first statement is correct. A modchip loaded with an illegally BIOS would be illegal -- but for one that's blank, or loaded with the Cromwell BIOS, I don't know why that should be true.
And on that note, a no-solder modchip with the Cromwell bios seems like a reasonable enough upgrade -- less than the cost of the ethernet module for a Dreamcast
timothy
I paid $150 for a used Xbox from an EB Games in Florida, and (not technically part of the Xbox, but now intimately connected ;)) a clip-on LCD screen from intec. That was also $150, so, so far I've spent $300, but I know I need to purchase at least one more thing, which is either a modchip or a memory thingie loaded with the buffer-overflow code from the 007 game.
:)) the xbox won't run without a video output connected, and I bought this to run in my car.
... EB I figure has a decent reputation, and if the box was broke, I'd have better luck there than at Ed's Pawn & Guns.)
;)
...
:)
The reason I spent so much for a (tiny -- 5.4") LCD screen is that (so I was told by the EB clerk, at least
(Pawn-shopping, I might have found one cheaper, but
I have already downloaded one live-ISO distro for the thing (dynebolic); until I have a modchip, though, it's just a clunky but surprisingly good-sounding CD player. (The speakers on the intec screen are not outstanding, but they're decent for my tin ears.)
Why an xbox for the car? You don't have to agree with my reasoning, or taste (of which I have none), but my thoughts go like this:
1) I want a CD player for the car. I don't have one, and I happen to like my head unit (an oldish but *old* Blaupunkt system with a simple, logical control layout and a line-in), so I'd rather not pay for a CD head unit. (I also think most of them have terrible control layouts, just really bizarre design decisions.) CD player is for some music, and for the audiobooks that Cracker Barrel conveniently stocks for $3/week
2) I'd like an ogg player for the car. I've been compressing my CD collection to ogg, and it's a lot simpler to carry 3 CD-Rs than 30 CDs.
3) When stopped (or for passengers) I think a video screen is neat in a car. Futurama in DiVX, for instance. Frivolous? Yes. I would not like to spend thousands of dollars on a video system, but as a nudge toward the xbox as a possible do-everything car computer, it works.
4) With a USB hub attached and a GNU/Linux system installed, I'm hoping I can hook up a web cam and use is as a low-tech DVR for the car.
I don't care too much about games per se, and will probably be using a no-solder modchip with the Cromwell BIOS, so Xbox games are probably out, but Frozen Bubble
If anyone would like to offer a memory card with the hack that makes a modchip unnecessary (for a fair price), let me know quick, before I order a regular modchip
timothy
In the case of paper ballots, it seems like error-checking should be used more (and earlier) than it presently is.
...)
1) Ballots should be designed such that they are human readable as well as machine readable (scantron-style is OK; require filling in the blank as well as choosing the right circle, and make the circles large and well separated
2) give half of the ballots to Consolidated American Votecounters, half to TallyMaster Inc, in round-number batches. Make them swap when they're done with each batch. Spot check various batches for agreement.
timothy
I've downloaded the ISO but not yet had a chance to burn. So, with that disclaimer (that is, I have not yet used it), I would like to point out that the dyne::bolic Linux distro is alleged to run on Xbox. (Modded only -- "of course," says the lead developer ;) -- oh well, no Xbox prize!)
:)
If it works well for me on a standard PC, I might buy an Xbox as an in-car audio / video player
timothy
1) I'd buy a reclining chair from the Relax The Back store. $1500 gets you a mid-grade model, so let's say $1500 as conservative.
:) Let's budget $1500 for this, too, for round numbers, but it shouldn't cost that much. (Note that it need not look like a museum piece; more like curved truss.)
2) I'd hire a sculpture student, a metal shop or a custom furniture designer to create a large metal arch with support points built in in order to support one or more largish LCD panels. The arch should be tall enough that one could sit on the chair in its fully reclined position, facing up at the monitors. It would have to be dis-assemble-able for transport
3) So, vs. a budget for the featured compu-chari thing of $7800, this approach leaves us with about $5000. Two VIA EPIA systems with 512MB RAM, DVD+CDRW drives and 120GB hard drives in small cases could be assembled for $500 apiece, so there's another thousand. Down to $4000 for displays and input. One of these systems should have a video capture card, and one could be equipped with a dual-out PCI video card.
4) Buy two decent but budget-friendly 19" LCDs (Samsung look decent, so do some Mitsubishis). $1500 is generous for a pair. Mount to the metal arc.
5) Put $2500 in the bank. Get into the spaceship thus created, work, play etc.
timothy
related note; the older On2 codec which has become the basis of Ogg Theora isn't dead: Ogg Theora is listed as supported in the newest version of Xine, as mentioned yesterday.
timothy
Why not?
v. loosed, loosing, looses
v. tr.
1. To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.
2. To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.
3. To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.
4. To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.
5. To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.
6. To make less strict; relax: a leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.
timothy
(this is according to my dad) is that long before they were widely deployed in the U.S., cateyes were in place on English roads. The U.S. highway system (not to mention all the smaller roads) involves many more road miles, so it's not surprising that cateyes still are not everywhere, but my father says they saved his life a few times when driving through London fog.
In the U.S. by contrast they are rather spottily deployed, but much appreciated when they're in place. Badly marked roads are a pet peeve which I hope one day does not kill me. Paint's getting better too, so there are some places where the road divider markings eliminate the need for separate cateyes, but that too is only in some places.
timothy
Well, they're separate issues, but both ones I have rants to spare ;)
... sometimes. But you mean we have to do it *all* the time? The big ones in D.C. are even worse. Now Howard County has the fashionable traffic circle bug, and it's an irritation to drive certain routes because of it. I *do* like the fact that they allow a minimal flow when otherwise none might be afforded, as you point out, but Ack. Normally, my family does not agree on everything, but the fact that my parents and siblings are with me on this surely says *something* about them.
...) but often perfunctory. Sign the dotted line, take some multiple choice tests, get a few hours with a lax instructor ....
circles: As a long-time Maryland resident, an absence of traffic circles is one thing I used to grant the state credit for, especially after a trip to Massachusetts. Up there, despite years of familiarity, the drivers seem intent on making the rotaries dangerous. Yield to traffic in circle?! Well
Licensure: You are right. For instance, when I got my own license, I was (I know in retrospect) seriously underprepared and overconfident. I wonder if there's a good market for serious driving schools. It would be good if it was approached more like flight school. Driving schools in the U.S. are often *required* (at least below a certain age; I waited until 18 for my license so technically I don't think I needed to have taken the course, but I did take one
It would be better with video analysis, many more hours logged (and I mean logged, with notes), and greater knowledge demonstrated of laws, car parts and driving situation responses.
timothy
So I did. $200 at Target for a standalone copying machine, works fine with 700MB disks (as I was afraid it might not).
...
Knoppix is a blast -- there is *some* hardware it chokes on (or vice versa, depends how you count), but for the most part on modern hardware it boots up, and BAM, there's a lovely KDE 3.1 desktop, mozilla, etc.
I keep meaning to (haven't yet) created a nice stock to keep in my car as random giveaways
timothy
Sorry, I guess both prices listed should have been $95 million -- but if you give $10 to the GNOME or KDE folks, it won't disappear quite so useless :)
tiothy
Just about a year CHiPs were stopping the shredders in California over a $95 million deal with Oracle in which evidently far, far more licenses than were strictly necessary were purchased by the state.
:)) were the size of companies like Oracle and Microsoft. But for the immediate future, using open source means never having to say "You're Busted!"
You don't generally get $85 million kickback-smelling deals with free software. Is it possible? Yes, or at least it could be if companies like Red Hat (or the old incarnation of VA Software
Sorry.
...) started in Massachusetts (they're widespread there) and in Washington DC (where they're big and dangerous). Now they're adding them in central Maryland, evidently because Marylanders are masochists.
;)
I've never been to England, and mean no offense -- my experiences with roundabouts (or rotaries, or traffic circles, or Dante's Circles
You may choose routes based on avoiding red lights, which is understandable, but I often choose mine by minimizing my exposure to rotaries.
Therefore, if I visit England, I will try to occupy passenger seats and buses more than driver's seats
timothy
183 also has more names than it needs. Research. Bluebonnet Parkway. (And, uh, 183, with the confusing direction confusion you noted.) [I hope I haven't just misremembered those ...]
Manor -- pronounced *how*?! It look a while for that one to sink in. I never said Guadaloop, too stubborn.
You forgot: Manchaca ("man-SHACK") and Koenig ("CANE-ig"). And the multiple 1st, 2nd, etc. streets (again, my memory is poor, but iirc, they start over south of town lake).
However, Mopac is good -- I used to think it was a bizarre name, but the origin makes it OK: The Missouri-Pacific Railway. Now, calling it "Loop 1" at the same time, that's less cool.
GPS machines need to be made smarter so the average $50 GPS device from Walmart can at least say "You are going south on MoPac, also known as Loop 1."
timothy
Money taken from me in the form of taxes (and the state of Texas has gotten quite a bit from me in the form of sales taxes in the years I lived there) has a different set of responsibilities attached than money being spent by a private enterprise. General Welfare, all that.
...
The thing about using open source code, and in particular when necessary paying for improvements to it, is that it's hard to see when this does *not* benefit the general welfare, assuming that the State in its usual infinite wisdom does not care to save / not spend other people's money in the first place.
Given that government agencies (hey, same is true at large corporations) like to spend money (and face disincentives to not spend at least up to their alloted budgets), let's say they're going to spend the same total money for particular tasks on either a) proprietary software + customization / integration and supportor b) Freely available software + customization / integration and support. That may be fanciful (despite optimism and propaganda on both sides), but I think it's actually a conservative guess.
At the end of the day / project / whatever, there's some code (still in existence) and whatever additions have been made to it. If there are additions that are somehow tied to the state government itself (ties to certain databases or weird data formats, etc) and they're modular enough, there could even be some cross-project advantages.
Also, one key advantage I've not noticed anyone mention in this thread is the fact that open source code (whether the FSF calls it Free or not) can be audited and justified a lot more easily than closed source apps. For one thing, I'd like to see tax-funded software be aggressively bid on; if code is open by policy, then improving it etc can be chased after by programmers / small software firms. It doesn't have to mean switching entire software systems
timothy
So, this will be sent to a panel of three watchers, huh? Will they suppress the minority report?
The parallel is not exact (far from it), but I bought / read the short story yesterday and was thinking how far ahead of his time PKD was (as usual) in describing such systems. Walker's system (as described) is closer to Orwell I suppose, but the 3-watchers bit jumped out at me.
timothy
1) Klaus Knopper. If he can put 2 Gigs of software into a 700MB iso, I'd like him to have the (compatible as advertised?) 1000MB version to play with, too.
;)
2) Jorg Schilling, whose cdrtools is the easiest (well, my favorite) way to burn ISOs under Linux, for obvious reasons
Same here. Most of the x-many (16?) bulbs in the dashboard of my 1995 Escort were burned out, and I resorted to a clipped-on LED flashlight for a while (the light from which is actually much more pleasing than the stock, "working" lightbulb situation -- the LED cast a very nice pool of light). Girlfriend pressure --> 'fixed' but what a hassle. Even with the borrowed labor of a car-fixing friend, it was a royal pain.
...
It's unconscionable to stick such inherently perishable parts (incandescent bulbs) into such an inherently inaccessable, inherently expensive (in time and money) spot. Many (most?) new cars are at least using some sort of electroluminescent stuff instead, maybe some are using banks of LEDs, I don't know
And rube goldberg as it sounds, I liked the flashlight for one other reason: it was simpler to click it off when I wanted than to find the rheostat for my dashboard, which is located in a tricky spot.
timothy