One, I have a friend, an aero engineer, who believes wholeheartedly that any kind of free will can be boiled down to the deterministic movement of particles. However, there are two problems with this--first, it seems like he is making the philosophical mistake you pointed out: if you assume that free will does not exist, you will not find it (I think we're talking way beyond simple "null hypothesis" caution here). Second, while chemistry might be reducible to atomic interactions, is it useful or meaningful to discuss chemistry in this manner? Is it useful to reduce biology to Newtonian motion? Useful meaning, "Does it help us understand what's going on?" What's your take? So in the vein of Williams James "will to believe" by assuming free will exists you can unearth the proof of it's existence? Sounds like exactly the logical fallacy you are assuming your friends is guilty of. I find most proponents for free will back the idea because they have a need to elevate humans beings above animals of just can't accept that the universe is deterministic. I have seen no compelling argument on the mind being anything but physical and deterministic. I have seen legions of information suggesting it is deterministic and physical.
They seem to be overlooking the problem that DVDs are good enough for most people and that Blu-Ray doesn't really confer the same advantage over DVD that DVDs did over VHS. The HD TV and BD player sales charts says few people buying TV and players agree with you. BD is ahead of where DVD was at the same time in it's lifespan and HD TV are the majority of new sets being sold.
The other interpretation is that regular DVD sales will crash, to the point where they're even with BluRay sales.
In a severe recession, anything is possible, especially since cable is rolling out video-on-demand like crazy, and if people have a choice between a dvr or a bluray player, they'll take the dvr. Recessions do not tend to change entertainment spending negatively. People may not buy more players or TV's but they will certainly buy more movies. Recessions actually tend to increase entertainment spending as people want to get away from their lives more.
George Lucas is suing the designer of the Imperial Stormtrooper armor. ...not the other way around. You missed the bit where the designer was counter suing.
Blizzard is making the fallacy of assuming that their success has to do with something they did. It's a common mistake: That would be true if WOW was the only game they ever sold a lot of. A one shot wonder like many musicians and some game studios(Take two?). But Blizzard does it again and again. Releasing a product that does very very well in it's market. Warcraft3 was a top selling RTS, Diablo and diablo ii were top selling dungeon crawlers, Warcraft 2 had amazing sales, starcraft had amazing sales too... So the very repetition of their success makes a lie out of yrou assertion. They are doing something different, the proof is their consistency.
Blizzard's not exactly the best example when looking for innovation. Sure, they've made some solid games, but all of the ones I'm familiar with (that is, most of the major ones save WoW as I don't do multiplayer-only) were awfully derivative; the RTS stuff from Dune 2/C&C, Diablo from Rogue/Nethack etc. Game innovation != Business innovation. They were discussing business innovation. Many innovative things have come from very old school business processes (Katamari Damacy) but this article was about how Blizz innovates in business. I think #1 would be the idea that sunk costs should not rule your decision making. Blizz doesn't release a game if it's not up to snuff. From warcraft adventures to Starcraft:Ghost. If it sucks it is cancelled. Many studios can't do this and thus tend to release crap and tend to lose the good will and support of their base. Note Atari, Rare, Sega, ION storm and a myriad of other studios didn't learn this lesson and thus don't have the support Blizzard does (and to a lesser extent Bungie, Bioware, Nintendo).
Yeah they took an established franchise millions loved (warcraft) and made an MMO out of it, what gamer has not played warcraft? Survey the MMO market. How many games there weren't an established franchise millions loved(~50%)? How many ave 6 million or more subscribers (1)... yeah.
Look, the game is pretty, fun for a while, and very addictive. They took the tried and true method of giving item hoarders, dungeon crawlers, D&D fans, and basic gamers a basic concept that each one could easily get addicted to. TFA had nothing you didn't already know. They basically took the best parts of Evercrack, UO, and D20 systems and made a pretty game out of it. End of article. Making red-colored crack and successfully getting a whole bunch of people addicted to it isn't really that impressive, and neither was TFA. Obviously thats why ever developer has a 6 million + MMORPG... ohh wait a minute...
That statement is invalid. The PS3 cost Sony ~$850.00 to make and was intentionally sold at a loss. Had they sold the system at a profit, the price to consumers would have been have been close to a grand(likely more). Consumers would have had a fit if they had to pay "PC" prices for a console, even if this device is essentially a proprietary "PC" with a more traditional console controller. That $850.00 is a guess by an analyst using estimated wholesale part prices and estimated associated costs. although I doubt the Ps3 was sold for a profit I highly doubt it was sold as a significant loss. Only a few consoles have been confirmed to have beens old at a loss. The dreamcast and the xbox. Other then those two any guess of a loss is just hearsay.
How is publishing a Film for different formats more of a pain in the ass for "Consumers, studios, manufacturers" then porting a game to different plattforms? Since both formats are the same in audio and visual quality, then it's a lot extra expense only to appease a small number of HD DVD early adopters. It doesn't make any economic sense. for Retailers they need to stock titles in duplicate wasting display space. For consumers they need to be aware which one will play in their machine and also buy 2 machines or a more expensive combo player to get the movies they want. For the Studio they have to do menuing, mastering, and packaging twice or risk excluding part of the market. For manufacturing it means that you need twice as many facilities to be able to accept all jobs that may come your way. For everybody involved multiple formats is a loss. Multiple manufacturers with standardized formats is a much better idea.
I remember hearing that BluRay would only play encrypted/copy protected content. I'm not sure if I'm misinformed, or just not quite correct on the details, but it was my understanding that there wouldn't be any way of having user created content playable on BluRay.
To my knowledge both HD DVD and BluRay will only play copy protected software. HD DVD has the option to play unprotected media but right nwo there isn't any consumer level HD DVD or BluRay authoring software. With the official demise of HD DVD it seems the possibility of a HD DVD authoring suite is slim.
1) I doubt an indie band could sell $750,000 worth of music in 2 days but I'm certain a band with some self-promotional skills could at least cover the cost of recording. Several bands like the Min-bosses do alright for themselves. 2) It's more like 1/2. you wouldn't be able to fit all 4 on a CD and most CD are under 80 min these days. A few will record a double album but most have 1 album with 2 singles and 10 tracks of filler totaling less then an hour. Thus a 36 song 2h set would be 2 standard CDs and the free material would be 1/2 of a standard album. a)$5 is a sweet spot. So low that liking a few tracks justify. b)Applies to the whole thing. So Download the wav version and mix away. 3) Might be useless to Britney Spears but Britney spears is pretty useless in general. I think remixing and making derivative works is the very heart of creative works. Few works are independent things, almost all draw on other works. Copyright as it exists now staggers that process. For instance Disney has basically locked everyone else out of several old stories and fables. Thats just suppresses creativity.
NIN(Trent Reznor) was the right man at the right place and the right time. Multi-Billionares have been created with less fortuitous circumstances.
I gave Trent $5 then downloaded it off the pirate bay as I couldn't get it via the link i was sent. I think they might have turned off the security to compensate for being overwhelmed.
Ummm, kill all the lawyers? There are good lawyers (Although I have to admit my salary comes partly from the local law foundation so I have a bias.) Lawyers get a bad rap because there are some exceptionally scummy ones (Jack Thompson) but I'd prefer a country with lots a lawyers to a country with none. Look at any where the lawyers are few, non existent, or powerless and you'll find places where the rule of law is weak or non existent. the Rule of law is necessary for the management of large groups of people because there is always conflict and without the rule of lack, conflict resolution can be messier.
Law tends to mutate over time. slower then technology but technology also isn't on a continuous evolutionary path. It spurts. Eventually law catches up. As seen in the previous months as they try to fix patent law.
The PC market has shrunk. I used ot do the same things. sort of. I used daemon tools and disk images to get around that and play some games which checked the hash of the exe like bnet games. Actually valve, bioware and blizzard are the only PC studios I still buy. I tend to find most other content lacking. Most of my games are console games. It's cheaper then keeping up with the upgrade cycle and console games tend to be a more complete package (a large portion of PC games are shipped broken!)
HDMI makes that hard. It handshakes with the player and TV. Someone might make an intermediary but the format was made to make intermediaries expensive. Just wait another month while DVD jon breaks BD as thoroughly as he broke DVD. The weakest link in DRM is that the person you are keeping out has both the key and the lock under his physical control.
5 Meg(abyte per second) = 40Mbps. Not sure where you live, but (FTTH/ETTH/VDSL/Docsis 3) not typical in most countries (yet). He likely means 'meg'abits/s.
The line about them wanting to put a thorn into Sony's game division sort of panned out though. It certainly made the 'Blu-Ray' feature moot at launch. However now it's a selling point. MS might not have banked on HD DVD early demise.
Is Optical media dead? Not as long as the baby-boom generation keeps buying "wax" disks. Optical media is as good as dead for many of us post-boomers, the younger the crowd the less likely they have any practical use for it either. Heck, I don't even own a standalone CD or DVD player! I Rip and store media on disk, and consume it when it's convenient for me. I have a very large collection of optimal media. I'm a post boomer. It's called video games. I have a massive library of plastic disks.
You still need promotion, experience, and funding. To a fresh-faced band that is just breaking out of their home town, the prospect of someone coordinating and fronting the money for a 500k dollar video + a 40 city tour is very attractive, especially if they can get said band into rotation on MTV and Clearchannel. They're hitmakers, and everyone wants to be a hit.
Labels will probably continue to have a place for a long, long time. Not true. Many of the bands on MP3.com used to do okay. Back in the day it allowed you to download tracks for a lot of indie artists, it allowe dyou to donate money to the artists. Some made a decent living off their music this way. supplementary income but income non the less. If your intelligent a guerrilla marketing campaign and cheaply made and interesting video could help. Look at OK GO. one cheap video, propelled to them to indie stardom.
Also, that 500k your referring to is often more like 50k and a 10 city work for free tour and it's fronted as a loan. The studio will then work their hardest to ensure your profits after expenses are as close to 0 as they can get away with. If your sales fall short, you owe them 50k. Labels are middle men whose relevance is in question. Producers like Timbaland, Kanye West, or bob rock will always have a place but the slimy middle men of the various labels do nothing for music.
If you ask me to sign a contract, and I say no, and you ask another 20 times and I finally sign it, am I exempt from it because you asked me a lot? Not in the least. Same deal here. If the company said they'd do X, and they didn't do X, I don't see any excuses. That really depends on how you ask those 20 times. If you say tied him up and smacked him with a shovel to the groin each time he said no then that is duress and the contract is void.
His point non-existant because you can't patent a play mechanic. so long as the marketing is distinct you can clone the mechanics. See bejeweled vs Puzzle Quest.
Insightful my ass: The lose pays system exists in Canada and it has not become a system where only the rich can use the system. There exists programs like Legal-aid which defuse costs to those unable to pay. If you lose a civil suit and must pay costs, the judge has some leeway as to how much can be charged to a person losing a suit. It works in Canada why the hell wouldn't it work in the US? the only losers are Lawyers who would pursue frivolous lawsuits.
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In a severe recession, anything is possible, especially since cable is rolling out video-on-demand like crazy, and if people have a choice between a dvr or a bluray player, they'll take the dvr. Recessions do not tend to change entertainment spending negatively. People may not buy more players or TV's but they will certainly buy more movies. Recessions actually tend to increase entertainment spending as people want to get away from their lives more.
George Lucas is suing the designer of the Imperial Stormtrooper armor. ...not the other way around. You missed the bit where the designer was counter suing.
I remember hearing that BluRay would only play encrypted/copy protected content. I'm not sure if I'm misinformed, or just not quite correct on the details, but it was my understanding that there wouldn't be any way of having user created content playable on BluRay.
To my knowledge both HD DVD and BluRay will only play copy protected software. HD DVD has the option to play unprotected media but right nwo there isn't any consumer level HD DVD or BluRay authoring software. With the official demise of HD DVD it seems the possibility of a HD DVD authoring suite is slim.
1) I doubt an indie band could sell $750,000 worth of music in 2 days but I'm certain a band with some self-promotional skills could at least cover the cost of recording. Several bands like the Min-bosses do alright for themselves.
2) It's more like 1/2. you wouldn't be able to fit all 4 on a CD and most CD are under 80 min these days. A few will record a double album but most have 1 album with 2 singles and 10 tracks of filler totaling less then an hour. Thus a 36 song 2h set would be 2 standard CDs and the free material would be 1/2 of a standard album.
a)$5 is a sweet spot. So low that liking a few tracks justify.
b)Applies to the whole thing. So Download the wav version and mix away.
3) Might be useless to Britney Spears but Britney spears is pretty useless in general. I think remixing and making derivative works is the very heart of creative works. Few works are independent things, almost all draw on other works. Copyright as it exists now staggers that process. For instance Disney has basically locked everyone else out of several old stories and fables. Thats just suppresses creativity.
NIN(Trent Reznor) was the right man at the right place and the right time. Multi-Billionares have been created with less fortuitous circumstances.
I gave Trent $5 then downloaded it off the pirate bay as I couldn't get it via the link i was sent. I think they might have turned off the security to compensate for being overwhelmed.
Law tends to mutate over time. slower then technology but technology also isn't on a continuous evolutionary path. It spurts. Eventually law catches up. As seen in the previous months as they try to fix patent law.
The PC market has shrunk. I used ot do the same things. sort of. I used daemon tools and disk images to get around that and play some games which checked the hash of the exe like bnet games. Actually valve, bioware and blizzard are the only PC studios I still buy. I tend to find most other content lacking. Most of my games are console games. It's cheaper then keeping up with the upgrade cycle and console games tend to be a more complete package (a large portion of PC games are shipped broken!)
HDMI makes that hard. It handshakes with the player and TV. Someone might make an intermediary but the format was made to make intermediaries expensive. Just wait another month while DVD jon breaks BD as thoroughly as he broke DVD. The weakest link in DRM is that the person you are keeping out has both the key and the lock under his physical control.
The line about them wanting to put a thorn into Sony's game division sort of panned out though. It certainly made the 'Blu-Ray' feature moot at launch. However now it's a selling point. MS might not have banked on HD DVD early demise.
Labels will probably continue to have a place for a long, long time. Not true. Many of the bands on MP3.com used to do okay. Back in the day it allowed you to download tracks for a lot of indie artists, it allowe dyou to donate money to the artists. Some made a decent living off their music this way. supplementary income but income non the less. If your intelligent a guerrilla marketing campaign and cheaply made and interesting video could help. Look at OK GO. one cheap video, propelled to them to indie stardom.
Also, that 500k your referring to is often more like 50k and a 10 city work for free tour and it's fronted as a loan. The studio will then work their hardest to ensure your profits after expenses are as close to 0 as they can get away with. If your sales fall short, you owe them 50k. Labels are middle men whose relevance is in question. Producers like Timbaland, Kanye West, or bob rock will always have a place but the slimy middle men of the various labels do nothing for music.
Pictures can't be made obsolete because there is nothing in them that can be made obsolete.
A GF sure made my playboys obsolete...
His point non-existant because you can't patent a play mechanic. so long as the marketing is distinct you can clone the mechanics. See bejeweled vs Puzzle Quest.
Insightful my ass: The lose pays system exists in Canada and it has not become a system where only the rich can use the system. There exists programs like Legal-aid which defuse costs to those unable to pay. If you lose a civil suit and must pay costs, the judge has some leeway as to how much can be charged to a person losing a suit. It works in Canada why the hell wouldn't it work in the US? the only losers are Lawyers who would pursue frivolous lawsuits.