My oppinion is that this kind of article represents a real problem in console gaming coverage by the PC gaming/hardware press. When dealing with issues that they feel they need to publish an article on yet they really don't know much about, they write a piece that doesn't say much of anything (yet fills up space!). Frequently, as part of this kind of article, the journalist will drop an unqualified chart or comparison sheet into the middle of their article.
For instance this article I'm annoyed with above has a large comparison chart in the middle of it that runs comparisons between the X-Box, PS2, and GameCube. Over half of the GC entries are marked "N/A" for not applicable. And stats in the GC column are just wrong in the context of what they're supposed to represent to the other systems. Top example here is the line that compares polygon processing. For X-Box and PS2 they have noted the "maximum poly rate", but on GC since Nintendo doesn't provide such a number, they have listed the "average poly rate"... yet nowhere do they distinguish what these numbers really represent, and the uninformed reader is left thinking that the GC is heavily inferior to the other two systems.
Ok, then next, how about this "3-D audio support in hardware" category? Well this is a bit misleading. All three systems have the ability to output 3-D audio... the GC supports Dolby Pro Logic II output, and the PS2 supports Digital Dolby output. Both of these allow for 3-D audio spaces (just listen to Rogue Squadron on the GC and tell me it doesn't feature some of the best separated audio space you've ever heard). All the "3-D audio hardware" does is it provides developers a crutch for their sound production. Now instead of having to actually engineer a program to handle the spatial modification/broadcast of sounds in a game space, they can just create a sound "bump map" (effectively a 2-D drawing with light and dark spots... a simple example would be light places allow sound through, dark spaces reflect sounds) and have their program send the sound clip, it's coordinates, and it's broadcast direction to the chip and the hardware does the rest. While this can be a boon to some developers, it isn't required to have 3-D sound.
Or worse yet, "HDTV support" listed as both Yes for Movie and Game support for X-Box when HDTV support for at least movies was actually canned just a few weeks ago... and wait, what's this, GameCube has N/A for game support??? Did the author of this chart do any research? The GC supports progressive scan output, and a number of games out now and coming soon also feature Anamorphic or 16:9/Anamorphic output to really take full advantage of an widescreen HDTV system.
Look, I'm not against listing comparisons between systems where one system has features that another lacks. But I do think it is a disservice to a company when you compare features that are only on system "A", yet skipping features that only appear on system "B"... or worse, listing a feature on "A" and not even acknowledging the feature on "B" (like in the HDTV game support reference above.
I guess I could say that it would be nice to see someone do a relevant comparison chart sometimes, with entries qualified as needed. Heck, the above mentioned article that shows this chart really doesn't even make use of the chart data, they just threw it in as a space filler to their readers to use for comparison. Unfortunately, if the author of the piece had a clue about what he was writing, he would have either A) not used the chart, or B) added the qualifiers needed to make the chart relevant.
Given the option, I always go with a OS/2 server solution for web server installs. The stability is un believeable. I've had a number of systems that ran for years with the only reboot happining because of a major power outage, or being taken down for hardware maintenance (HD replacement, etc...). The scripting with REXX is probably th emost powerful scripting language I've ever used, contrary to what Perl fan-boys will tell you.
So what happens on my Linux box running NAT/firewall for my three VMWare sessions (Win98/NT/2000)? I'm still running one piece of hardware with four internal IPs on it, but only one realworld IP to the cable company. So now I'm supposed to pay for four devices?
Oh wait, if they set up a piece of physical hardware that prevents NAT, then that means I can no longer connect to the network via my VMWare sessions?
Standardize the hardware!?!? My ass! Before Microsoft/Windows took over the hardware we had hardware consortiums that would fight out OPEN standards so that they could make sure their stuff would work on the largest array of systems so that they could get the largest amount of sales.
Does anyone remember things like VGA, S-VGA, NE2000, ISO9660, etc... If you could get a generic driver loaded in your OS, you could access the hardware from whatever OS you were using. Now we have DirectX for everything, and Microsoft protocols for the rest. It's a miracle that we have things like Linux and other Open Source OSs given that there is absolutely no consistency among any hardware from any vendor. For crying out loud, just how long did it take before anyone could actually us a f*cking WinModem outside of Windows?!? A perfect case of making it hard for anyone who wanted to use an inexpensive modem to use anything BUT Windows.
I would have to say that rather than Open Source being success because of Windows, I believe Open Source has been a success INSPITE of Windows.
I've yet to be disapointed with any of these games, and they are non-violent as well as fun for kids (mine currently are 4, 8, & 10 and all of them enjoy the games better than any other kids games we've bought)... they're also fun for adults as well. Most of them have a very minimal reading requirement, and most can be played by someone who can't read if they have an older child there to play with them who can read.
My personal favorites are the SpyFox series (some reading/logic skills required) and the Knowledge Bug series (no reading required at all, just silly fun).
Specifically:
"The bottom line here is simple. Microsoft wants to increase its profits, and make more money for its shareholders. The X-Box is the next step in their efforts. In order for all of this to work though, the X-Box has to be successful. In fact, not only successful, it has to become a "standard" in the market. Microsoft will be making their money first off of gaming software sales, then internet subscriptions, and then application subscriptions. The end goal being that you will hopefully use the X-Box as your videogame machine, cable TV box (akin to WebTV), family computer, and more. Don't be surprised when DVD functionality gets added along with possible TV buffering (akin to Tivo) features. I also wouldn't be surprised to see companies like AOL/Time Warner start offering X-Boxes at a steep discount to their cable customers as a "cable plus" system."
The Polymer-City Chronicles originally appeared on the web in late 94'. The author recently transitioned the strip from a "4-panel funny" format a few weeks ago and has begun a story arc which he expects will take him through the end of the year. It's well worth the read, and the author takes donations as well to help cover the cost of publishing the comic.
I think over the weekend, everyone should do up signs and pick a retailer to stand in front of to tell people to boycott Adobe products. Also to protest their actions in having this man arrested.
This way the average Joe will hear about this before it gets spun in the Sunday papers, and it might get national coverage from our point of view and not Adobe's.
To be honest... first I don't think that in a true AI situation that these rules would apply. And second, there will be people like my children who grow up and may create an AI driven robot... and who after carefully thinking them out, threw away Asimov's rules as nothing better than a tool to inslave a sentient being.
Asimov's notions of AI/robots comes from an age where if you weren't white and male, you didn't count, and the future would be full of "ATOMIC" things so why the hell would a robot do any better at having a shot at sentient independance.
For crying out loud, humans aren't going to last forever... Our best chance to pass on the "spirit of man" may be to eventually merge with the machines to increase longevity, create an artificial life form that can evolve.
Let me guess... you're one of those dumb-ass types that has never actually played Pokemon and didn't know it was an RPG based on the Mother/Earthbound game engine (next to FF series in RPG quality).
Oh, and on your GeForce 1 comment... so if I create a 1 billion poly representation of a turd and give you the ability to spin it on the screen for points... according to your argument, it would be the one of the best games on the market.
What a dumb ass... just shut your crack hole and spare us your ignorance!
The historical facts show that MS never gives up anything, no matter how much the users hate it, or refuse to use it. If MS has decided that you are going to get a feature, you're going to get it... maybe not today, maybe not tommorow, but you will get it...
Some examples of "dead MS technologies":
Win32s = Windows 95
Wing = DirectX
BOB = Windows XP help
mandatory registration = attempted in past MS products, now in XP
...and many many more...
there are many others...
If MS has spent the money on Smart Tags and decided that you're going to get it, then like it or not, you're going to get it.
Yeah, broadband is like cable in another way as well. People are paying the big bucks to front the infrastucture because of the reward of real-time porn! In the 70's/80's real-time porn was 24/7 pre-recorded movies on the tube. Today it's 24/7 live (or even interactive) porn. On the other hand, Porn didn't really drive the phone infrastructure... that system was well in place before phonesex became popular in the 80's.
...or atleast how it was explained to me by a USWest technician I knew, and from what I gleaned as a service tech for a major ISP. Copper has a higher frequency range because it is analog. This range allows you to make a "modem" that talks simultaniously on multiple frequencies across a single line so as to increase the throughput.
When optical lines were installed (developed and initially roled out before high-speed modems were commonly available--faster than 28.8), the design restricted the frequency range it carried to that of the audible spectrum which humans can hear (since why whould you want to send data for stuff people couldn't hear?). Actually it's a bit tighter than that, and initially some people could spot who had fiber-optics to their home by the sound of the connection. This is also why some areas had/have real problems with 56k modems at full speed, and exactly why you can't run a DSL modem at all over one of these lines. And why the phone companies put a dead stop to "over-the-counter" modems faster than 56k.
In order for a telco to get DSL out to fiber-optic customers, the telco must upgrade their systems to carry full-spectrum on their fiber-optics. This is no simple issue. The initial benifit for fiber was that you could potentially replace a copper bundle with a single thread of fiber. And when it would be less prone to physical damage and decay, and it would be way easier to troublshoot, and cheaper to install.
The fact is, when you're phonecall hits that fiber line, over 60% of the sound data gets thrown in the trash (that was the number given to me, I don't know how accurate it is)... in a lot of ways, it's like taking analog music and recording it down to an MP3... sure it "sounds" the same, but technically, most of the sound is gone.
Now imagine if that was data you sent instead of voice... This is why you will not get DSL installed if there is even one inch of fiber-optic between you and the telco (unless the telco has upgraded all of their switches to handle full-spectrum on their fiber).
...oh yeah, and I didn't even get into the equipment that sits between a piece of copper and a piece of fiber, which digitizes the audio for streaming over fiber. Just how fast of a computer do you need to handle ripping a CD to even a 64kbps MP3 a 1X speed? Now, how many phone lines simultainiously on a optical feed to a standard hub? You do the math, and then think about how realistic you think it is that a telco is just going to drop a super-computer into that manhole just so that you can have DSL service?
Re:Sue my Local Radio Stations!
on
Launchcast Sued
·
· Score: 1
Yeah, it's pretty simple. They were broadcasting on something like channel 57 for a few years (you had to have an active antenna to pick up a usable signal, and I only think the channel made it across the norther part of Phoenix... I got it near I-17 and Bethany Home, but my brother-in-law in Mesa could never pick it up).
Anyways, sometime after the first of the year, if I recall right, they started running a couple minute long tele-prompt like commercial spot that basically said that the channel was going to loose their broadcast license because of protests like I mentioned in the other post. I did some background checking, and the rumor around is that the protest came from record industry people trying to shut down the affiliate.
When the date on their license renewal came up, they tried to change the station over to another "home-shopping club" derivative, and they still got shut down.
Like I said, they had been running The Box feed for a few years, and it was the only "non-cable" station running the feed in the U.S. from what I could tell... unfortunately, like I said in my second post, it looks like the network didn't end up surviving and MTV slupped them up into "MTV2".
Re:Sue my Local Radio Stations!
on
Launchcast Sued
·
· Score: 1
Oh damn... strike that... I just went by "www.thebox.com" to see what the status of the network was, and to see if there has been any news, and I see that they've been absorbed by MTV. Just damn it all to hell... I'm glad I don't poor money into cable anymore... screw them. I get more entertainment out of playing my video games... and more interaction for that matter, than I ever got out of cable TV. Hell, I actually interact with my kids more playing multi-player games in the livingroom, than just all of us veging into the tube.
Re:Which begs the question...
on
Launchcast Sued
·
· Score: 1
Well, "The Box" used to be this, but I just hit their site and find to my great horror that they've been absorbed into the MTV collective.
sigh...
Re:Sue my Local Radio Stations!
on
Launchcast Sued
·
· Score: 1
Actually from what I understand it was an RIAA issued complaint to the local FCC office that got "The Box" yanked from local syndication here in Phoenix, Arizona under the guise that they were broadcasting outside the scope of their license and were not providing the required percentages of educational/community service/etc... bullsh*t. As I understand it, they're trying to get the service completely shut down nationwide.
I'm just sick of this, I was so happy to finally have a station where I could watch music videos instead of lame-ass reality TV showing twenty-year olds get pissy with each other all day!
older 1 gig drives could suffer from click death as well if they were on the same SCSI chain as a zip drive that died... the problem wasn't a hardware problem no matter what they tell you. I spent several months with some friends idependently researching the problem. Our best conclusion was that the problem was actually transient in nature and originated from a series of "driver/iomegasoft" distributions at the time when the problem came up. We tested (and lost) several drives working this out. Why? Well we didn't care, we had already dumped the format and had stacks of disks and drives around that could have gone in the trash... We were actually able to trace our "infection" back to a single internal IDE zip drive that triggered the failures on all of the other drives.
If you want the real truth about Scamatology, I strongly urg you to pick up the book Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison. Harlan Ellison was known to be a friend to L.Ron Hubbard early on in their lives and in this book of short stories, he writes a rather extensive forward, where he talks about the origins of the "church", and L.Ron Hubbard's actually opinions about what happened before he died. It was Ellison's effort to make amends/set the record straight for his friend and in some way, apologize for what happened.
Slashdot Mirror
My oppinion is that this kind of article represents a real problem in console gaming coverage by the PC gaming/hardware press. When dealing with issues that they feel they need to publish an article on yet they really don't know much about, they write a piece that doesn't say much of anything (yet fills up space!). Frequently, as part of this kind of article, the journalist will drop an unqualified chart or comparison sheet into the middle of their article.
For instance this article I'm annoyed with above has a large comparison chart in the middle of it that runs comparisons between the X-Box, PS2, and GameCube. Over half of the GC entries are marked "N/A" for not applicable. And stats in the GC column are just wrong in the context of what they're supposed to represent to the other systems. Top example here is the line that compares polygon processing. For X-Box and PS2 they have noted the "maximum poly rate", but on GC since Nintendo doesn't provide such a number, they have listed the "average poly rate"... yet nowhere do they distinguish what these numbers really represent, and the uninformed reader is left thinking that the GC is heavily inferior to the other two systems.
Ok, then next, how about this "3-D audio support in hardware" category? Well this is a bit misleading. All three systems have the ability to output 3-D audio... the GC supports Dolby Pro Logic II output, and the PS2 supports Digital Dolby output. Both of these allow for 3-D audio spaces (just listen to Rogue Squadron on the GC and tell me it doesn't feature some of the best separated audio space you've ever heard). All the "3-D audio hardware" does is it provides developers a crutch for their sound production. Now instead of having to actually engineer a program to handle the spatial modification/broadcast of sounds in a game space, they can just create a sound "bump map" (effectively a 2-D drawing with light and dark spots... a simple example would be light places allow sound through, dark spaces reflect sounds) and have their program send the sound clip, it's coordinates, and it's broadcast direction to the chip and the hardware does the rest. While this can be a boon to some developers, it isn't required to have 3-D sound.
Or worse yet, "HDTV support" listed as both Yes for Movie and Game support for X-Box when HDTV support for at least movies was actually canned just a few weeks ago... and wait, what's this, GameCube has N/A for game support??? Did the author of this chart do any research? The GC supports progressive scan output, and a number of games out now and coming soon also feature Anamorphic or 16:9/Anamorphic output to really take full advantage of an widescreen HDTV system.
Look, I'm not against listing comparisons between systems where one system has features that another lacks. But I do think it is a disservice to a company when you compare features that are only on system "A", yet skipping features that only appear on system "B"... or worse, listing a feature on "A" and not even acknowledging the feature on "B" (like in the HDTV game support reference above.
I guess I could say that it would be nice to see someone do a relevant comparison chart sometimes, with entries qualified as needed. Heck, the above mentioned article that shows this chart really doesn't even make use of the chart data, they just threw it in as a space filler to their readers to use for comparison. Unfortunately, if the author of the piece had a clue about what he was writing, he would have either A) not used the chart, or B) added the qualifiers needed to make the chart relevant.
Given the option, I always go with a OS/2 server solution for web server installs. The stability is un believeable. I've had a number of systems that ran for years with the only reboot happining because of a major power outage, or being taken down for hardware maintenance (HD replacement, etc...). The scripting with REXX is probably th emost powerful scripting language I've ever used, contrary to what Perl fan-boys will tell you.
So what happens on my Linux box running NAT/firewall for my three VMWare sessions (Win98/NT/2000)? I'm still running one piece of hardware with four internal IPs on it, but only one realworld IP to the cable company. So now I'm supposed to pay for four devices?
Oh wait, if they set up a piece of physical hardware that prevents NAT, then that means I can no longer connect to the network via my VMWare sessions?
What the hell?!?
Standardize the hardware!?!? My ass! Before Microsoft/Windows took over the hardware we had hardware consortiums that would fight out OPEN standards so that they could make sure their stuff would work on the largest array of systems so that they could get the largest amount of sales.
Does anyone remember things like VGA, S-VGA, NE2000, ISO9660, etc... If you could get a generic driver loaded in your OS, you could access the hardware from whatever OS you were using. Now we have DirectX for everything, and Microsoft protocols for the rest. It's a miracle that we have things like Linux and other Open Source OSs given that there is absolutely no consistency among any hardware from any vendor. For crying out loud, just how long did it take before anyone could actually us a f*cking WinModem outside of Windows?!? A perfect case of making it hard for anyone who wanted to use an inexpensive modem to use anything BUT Windows.
I would have to say that rather than Open Source being success because of Windows, I believe Open Source has been a success INSPITE of Windows.
Mom, they're trying to pass a new law that can not only make it illegal to tape your soap opera, it would also be a Federally punishable offence.
I've yet to be disapointed with any of these games, and they are non-violent as well as fun for kids (mine currently are 4, 8, & 10 and all of them enjoy the games better than any other kids games we've bought)... they're also fun for adults as well. Most of them have a very minimal reading requirement, and most can be played by someone who can't read if they have an older child there to play with them who can read.
Check out their software at Humongus.com.
My personal favorites are the SpyFox series (some reading/logic skills required) and the Knowledge Bug series (no reading required at all, just silly fun).
Good luck!
I'm sorry to hear that... I'd cry if I had to stare at an XBox on my desk... CRY I tell you.
I believe I tried to tell this to everyone as late as november last year in an article I wrote at Game Zero.
Specifically:
"The bottom line here is simple. Microsoft wants to increase its profits, and make more money for its shareholders. The X-Box is the next step in their efforts. In order for all of this to work though, the X-Box has to be successful. In fact, not only successful, it has to become a "standard" in the market. Microsoft will be making their money first off of gaming software sales, then internet subscriptions, and then application subscriptions. The end goal being that you will hopefully use the X-Box as your videogame machine, cable TV box (akin to WebTV), family computer, and more. Don't be surprised when DVD functionality gets added along with possible TV buffering (akin to Tivo) features. I also wouldn't be surprised to see companies like AOL/Time Warner start offering X-Boxes at a steep discount to their cable customers as a "cable plus" system."
The Polymer-City Chronicles originally appeared on the web in late 94'. The author recently transitioned the strip from a "4-panel funny" format a few weeks ago and has begun a story arc which he expects will take him through the end of the year. It's well worth the read, and the author takes donations as well to help cover the cost of publishing the comic.
Duh... Thomas Dolby is off pushing his "Beatnik" web-browser based music playback format now, and has/had nothing to do with Dolby Labs.
Hit his URL:o ns/javascript.html#7 for Netscape's guide to how to use JS to change user prefs...
http://developer.netscape.com/support/faqs/champi
I think over the weekend, everyone should do up signs and pick a retailer to stand in front of to tell people to boycott Adobe products. Also to protest their actions in having this man arrested.
This way the average Joe will hear about this before it gets spun in the Sunday papers, and it might get national coverage from our point of view and not Adobe's.
To be honest... first I don't think that in a true AI situation that these rules would apply. And second, there will be people like my children who grow up and may create an AI driven robot... and who after carefully thinking them out, threw away Asimov's rules as nothing better than a tool to inslave a sentient being.
Asimov's notions of AI/robots comes from an age where if you weren't white and male, you didn't count, and the future would be full of "ATOMIC" things so why the hell would a robot do any better at having a shot at sentient independance.
For crying out loud, humans aren't going to last forever... Our best chance to pass on the "spirit of man" may be to eventually merge with the machines to increase longevity, create an artificial life form that can evolve.
Let me guess... you're one of those dumb-ass types that has never actually played Pokemon and didn't know it was an RPG based on the Mother/Earthbound game engine (next to FF series in RPG quality).
Oh, and on your GeForce 1 comment... so if I create a 1 billion poly representation of a turd and give you the ability to spin it on the screen for points... according to your argument, it would be the one of the best games on the market.
What a dumb ass... just shut your crack hole and spare us your ignorance!
The historical facts show that MS never gives up anything, no matter how much the users hate it, or refuse to use it. If MS has decided that you are going to get a feature, you're going to get it... maybe not today, maybe not tommorow, but you will get it...
Some examples of "dead MS technologies":
Win32s = Windows 95
Wing = DirectX
BOB = Windows XP help
mandatory registration = attempted in past MS products, now in XP
...and many many more...
there are many others...
If MS has spent the money on Smart Tags and decided that you're going to get it, then like it or not, you're going to get it.
Damn it! I can't even get first Google here!
Yeah, broadband is like cable in another way as well. People are paying the big bucks to front the infrastucture because of the reward of real-time porn! In the 70's/80's real-time porn was 24/7 pre-recorded movies on the tube. Today it's 24/7 live (or even interactive) porn. On the other hand, Porn didn't really drive the phone infrastructure... that system was well in place before phonesex became popular in the 80's.
...or atleast how it was explained to me by a USWest technician I knew, and from what I gleaned as a service tech for a major ISP. Copper has a higher frequency range because it is analog. This range allows you to make a "modem" that talks simultaniously on multiple frequencies across a single line so as to increase the throughput.
When optical lines were installed (developed and initially roled out before high-speed modems were commonly available--faster than 28.8), the design restricted the frequency range it carried to that of the audible spectrum which humans can hear (since why whould you want to send data for stuff people couldn't hear?). Actually it's a bit tighter than that, and initially some people could spot who had fiber-optics to their home by the sound of the connection. This is also why some areas had/have real problems with 56k modems at full speed, and exactly why you can't run a DSL modem at all over one of these lines. And why the phone companies put a dead stop to "over-the-counter" modems faster than 56k.
In order for a telco to get DSL out to fiber-optic customers, the telco must upgrade their systems to carry full-spectrum on their fiber-optics. This is no simple issue. The initial benifit for fiber was that you could potentially replace a copper bundle with a single thread of fiber. And when it would be less prone to physical damage and decay, and it would be way easier to troublshoot, and cheaper to install.
The fact is, when you're phonecall hits that fiber line, over 60% of the sound data gets thrown in the trash (that was the number given to me, I don't know how accurate it is)... in a lot of ways, it's like taking analog music and recording it down to an MP3... sure it "sounds" the same, but technically, most of the sound is gone.
Now imagine if that was data you sent instead of voice... This is why you will not get DSL installed if there is even one inch of fiber-optic between you and the telco (unless the telco has upgraded all of their switches to handle full-spectrum on their fiber).
...oh yeah, and I didn't even get into the equipment that sits between a piece of copper and a piece of fiber, which digitizes the audio for streaming over fiber. Just how fast of a computer do you need to handle ripping a CD to even a 64kbps MP3 a 1X speed? Now, how many phone lines simultainiously on a optical feed to a standard hub? You do the math, and then think about how realistic you think it is that a telco is just going to drop a super-computer into that manhole just so that you can have DSL service?
Yeah, it's pretty simple. They were broadcasting on something like channel 57 for a few years (you had to have an active antenna to pick up a usable signal, and I only think the channel made it across the norther part of Phoenix... I got it near I-17 and Bethany Home, but my brother-in-law in Mesa could never pick it up).
Anyways, sometime after the first of the year, if I recall right, they started running a couple minute long tele-prompt like commercial spot that basically said that the channel was going to loose their broadcast license because of protests like I mentioned in the other post. I did some background checking, and the rumor around is that the protest came from record industry people trying to shut down the affiliate.
When the date on their license renewal came up, they tried to change the station over to another "home-shopping club" derivative, and they still got shut down.
Like I said, they had been running The Box feed for a few years, and it was the only "non-cable" station running the feed in the U.S. from what I could tell... unfortunately, like I said in my second post, it looks like the network didn't end up surviving and MTV slupped them up into "MTV2".
Oh damn... strike that... I just went by "www.thebox.com" to see what the status of the network was, and to see if there has been any news, and I see that they've been absorbed by MTV. Just damn it all to hell... I'm glad I don't poor money into cable anymore... screw them. I get more entertainment out of playing my video games... and more interaction for that matter, than I ever got out of cable TV. Hell, I actually interact with my kids more playing multi-player games in the livingroom, than just all of us veging into the tube.
Well, "The Box" used to be this, but I just hit their site and find to my great horror that they've been absorbed into the MTV collective.
sigh...
Actually from what I understand it was an RIAA issued complaint to the local FCC office that got "The Box" yanked from local syndication here in Phoenix, Arizona under the guise that they were broadcasting outside the scope of their license and were not providing the required percentages of educational/community service/etc... bullsh*t. As I understand it, they're trying to get the service completely shut down nationwide.
I'm just sick of this, I was so happy to finally have a station where I could watch music videos instead of lame-ass reality TV showing twenty-year olds get pissy with each other all day!
Actually I've read a couple of reports now that these new drives are pretty fragile and have a shitty trasfer rate (ie, 1 hour to move a 1Gig of data)
older 1 gig drives could suffer from click death as well if they were on the same SCSI chain as a zip drive that died... the problem wasn't a hardware problem no matter what they tell you. I spent several months with some friends idependently researching the problem. Our best conclusion was that the problem was actually transient in nature and originated from a series of "driver/iomegasoft" distributions at the time when the problem came up. We tested (and lost) several drives working this out. Why? Well we didn't care, we had already dumped the format and had stacks of disks and drives around that could have gone in the trash... We were actually able to trace our "infection" back to a single internal IDE zip drive that triggered the failures on all of the other drives.
If you want the real truth about Scamatology, I strongly urg you to pick up the book Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison. Harlan Ellison was known to be a friend to L.Ron Hubbard early on in their lives and in this book of short stories, he writes a rather extensive forward, where he talks about the origins of the "church", and L.Ron Hubbard's actually opinions about what happened before he died. It was Ellison's effort to make amends/set the record straight for his friend and in some way, apologize for what happened.