The vast majority of banner ads show little creative talent and just plain suck, and most people have trained themselves not to look at 468x60 images.
I find google's ads quite agreeable though. They're usually relevant and well targeted, they suck up hardly any bandwidth, and they don't trigger epileptic fits.
Plain text is also the hardest ad format to block. Ergh, having said that, I hope the advertised don't start putting in multicolored <BLINK> tags everywhere =\
Walked into an arcade lately? The latest rage are these twister-style dancing games, where you have to use your feet to step around a footpad in sync with music and arrows on the screen.
They're easy, intuitive and popular, especially among the asian girls (being japanese made, it's not too surprising). And a good player is sure to draw a captive audience, standing around watching.
They're hell expensive and a game doesn't last very long (just like most other games) but they're the most refreshing idea to hit the arcades in a long while. Not that I play them of course:)
As I read this, my mouse sat in the middle of the screen, unmoving, while I occasionally scratched the scroll wheel. My scroll wheel doesn't work in linux, but there I scroll with the spacebar, and a lot of people I know do that because aiming for a scrollbar is just too plain hard.
These guys must have had a helluva time implementing something like an AI engine using cross browser javascript:)
In response to Dimitry's treatment, the Russian government issued a public warning to programmers, warning them not to go to the USA. Does anybody know of a link to the text/translation of the official document?
After all the ruckus with H1Bs to get programmers IN to the US, this is remarkable reversal. Some choice excerpts from the Russian warning would make a nice email sig, methinks.
The term "interactive digital device" means "any machine, device, product, software, or technology, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine, device, product, software, or technology, that is designed, marketed or used for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of, storing, retrieving, processing, performing, transmitting, receiving, or copying information in digital form."
With this shotgun definition, you could cover flip-flops, signal fires, morse code, thumbs-up, middle finger.
Sec. 104: Adoption of Security System Standards - The private sector has 12 months to agree on a standard, or the Secretary of Commerce will step in... The standard can be later modified.... If industry can agree, the secretary will turn their standard into a regulation
This is the scariest paragraph. I started off laughing at the "12 months to agree" part, but sobered up pretty darn fast. A standard that can be changed, made into a regulation - doesn't that sound like a law that can be changed basically on a corporate whim?
OK, I understand how my daily All-Bran helps with "stimulating new inventions". And "Inspire innovation"? Fair enough, it's happened to me a few times. But "helped build a great nation"?
It's an interesting parallel between internet and matter. Basically, a replicator could do for matter what the internet has done for information.
The internet is the open environment today because the "people" got to it before the corporations (or more succinctly, it wasn't built with a profit motive in mind).
If replication technology happens, a major decider of its impact will be who gets to it first. If it remains a closed technology, with a few companies replicating some unmanufacturable in the name of money, we're in for a bad time. Like, say if the only C compiler was in Microsoft hands. (The information->matter, compiler->replicator analogy has some interesting mileage in it...)
Replication could be the e=mc^2 of the 21st century - matter and information being interchangeable.
Why talk about money, when such a technology would make money obselete?
Indeed, maybe you could take this a step further and say that a replicator would abolish the concept of "economy" as we know it.
Economy is based on "scarcity", that resources are limited, money being a way of measuring relative worths (albeit poorly). Take that away, and money loses its representative power.
I can think of three possible replacement currencies: 1) Respect 2) Services and 3) Willingness to use replicated weapons.
Ogg doesn't offer any significant benefits over MP3. Several codecs are already out there which offer marginal increases in quality / marginal decreases in size, but that's not enough to offset the familiarity and infrastructure of mp3.
The other 'benefit' of Ogg is its openness... well, the process of decoding and mp3 is standard and well documented. Fraunhofer's patented a particular set of algorithms for encoding, but LAME's encoding sounds somewhat better to my ears. (Not to mention that nobody's really gonna growl at you if you slip in a pantented algorithm or two...)
Me, I'm sticking with MP3 for a while. At 192kbps, I have to listen REALLY hard to distinguish it from CD.
Professional CD pirates will definitely find a way around it. Casual MP3 coders and swappers won't be affected by it - I don't think MP3 will encode a square wave very well.
Who does that leave? Home users trying to make a backup or a copy for a friend, both of which I believe are legal.
I read an old Wired article once that was about the pioneering days of the original radio buffs and hobbyists, and how eventually the free ride ended and we wound up with modern day radio as a result.
</blockquote>
Yep, and nowadays there is an amateur radio community which most people aren't aware of, but is very much alive and kicking. Let the capitalists build their business net and leave the rest of us in peace. Let them build a "reliable, high bandwidth" network, ringing with endless "cha-ching!".
That's fine, those of us who love what we do will continue putting up amateur/personal/academic content, and leave it up to the users to decide which net they want to swing their eyeballs at.
It doesn't suffer from the the drawbacks of any ad format seen so far - it's not interruptive and it doesn't suck bigtime bandwidth.
If there were some way to embed text from another server on a page inline, that would be truly frightening - it would be much harder to distinguish ads from actual content.
But then again, it would have to be well written and targeted to blend into the page, otherwise you'd just skip over it. But well written and targeted advertising? Too much to ask for.
(Actually, I'm not sure if this can be done already - IFRAMEing it in already happens, but filtering/blocking already kills these. I'm not sure if you can do it with an SSI - I know PHP can do it. Dayem.)
Seeing as Adobe knows nothing about authorising these guys (supposedly) then they could sue these lawyer guys for damaging their reputation - I mean, a lot of us here have suddenly decided to hate Adobe all of a sudden!
RIAA = Recording Industry and Artists of America, right?
Too right it is! I use Napster to keep myself supplied with (otherwise unobtainable) Asian music, and the amount of non-American content on Napster has hardly changed. Hooray for the American Way.
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I find google's ads quite agreeable though. They're usually relevant and well targeted, they suck up hardly any bandwidth, and they don't trigger epileptic fits.
Plain text is also the hardest ad format to block. Ergh, having said that, I hope the advertised don't start putting in multicolored <BLINK> tags everywhere =\
They're easy, intuitive and popular, especially among the asian girls (being japanese made, it's not too surprising). And a good player is sure to draw a captive audience, standing around watching.
They're hell expensive and a game doesn't last very long (just like most other games) but they're the most refreshing idea to hit the arcades in a long while. Not that I play them of course :)
zip .... CLACKITYCLACKCLACKCLACK ... :-)
Stupid idea, those "Tactile Mice", whatever their applications.
But you never know, some marketroid can probably read meaning into how fast you can type GET / HTTP/1.0
Sorrie :P
These guys must have had a helluva time implementing something like an AI engine using cross browser javascript :)
After all the ruckus with H1Bs to get programmers IN to the US, this is remarkable reversal. Some choice excerpts from the Russian warning would make a nice email sig, methinks.
With this shotgun definition, you could cover flip-flops, signal fires, morse code, thumbs-up, middle finger.
Sec. 104: Adoption of Security System Standards - The private sector has 12 months to agree on a standard, or the Secretary of Commerce will step in... The standard can be later modified.... If industry can agree, the secretary will turn their standard into a regulation
This is the scariest paragraph. I started off laughing at the "12 months to agree" part, but sobered up pretty darn fast. A standard that can be changed, made into a regulation - doesn't that sound like a law that can be changed basically on a corporate whim?
Someone's been eating beetroot 'n' corn again eh? :)
Can you do a "shock the monkey" banner in lisp?
Type A = Altruist
Type B = Born with it
Type O = Official laboratory
Type AB = Abortion By-product
And coming soon to a blood bank near you ...
Type M = Mouse
Type S = Sheep
Type G = Monkey
Type Yin-Yang = Various other animals of the Chinese Zodiac
OK, I understand how my daily All-Bran helps with "stimulating new inventions". And "Inspire innovation"? Fair enough, it's happened to me a few times. But "helped build a great nation"?
Wow. I'm gonna have another breakfast.
The internet is the open environment today because the "people" got to it before the corporations (or more succinctly, it wasn't built with a profit motive in mind).
If replication technology happens, a major decider of its impact will be who gets to it first. If it remains a closed technology, with a few companies replicating some unmanufacturable in the name of money, we're in for a bad time. Like, say if the only C compiler was in Microsoft hands. (The information->matter, compiler->replicator analogy has some interesting mileage in it...)
Replication could be the e=mc^2 of the 21st century - matter and information being interchangeable.
Indeed, maybe you could take this a step further and say that a replicator would abolish the concept of "economy" as we know it.
Economy is based on "scarcity", that resources are limited, money being a way of measuring relative worths (albeit poorly). Take that away, and money loses its representative power.
I can think of three possible replacement currencies: 1) Respect 2) Services and 3) Willingness to use replicated weapons.
Flerbage - the stuff at the bottom of the bucket after a day coughing with the flu :)
Oh, you again! So how about you tell me all the good things about XP, just one more time?
Ogg doesn't offer any significant benefits over MP3. Several codecs are already out there which offer marginal increases in quality / marginal decreases in size, but that's not enough to offset the familiarity and infrastructure of mp3.
... well, the process of decoding and mp3 is standard and well documented. Fraunhofer's patented a particular set of algorithms for encoding, but LAME's encoding sounds somewhat better to my ears. (Not to mention that nobody's really gonna growl at you if you slip in a pantented algorithm or two ...)
The other 'benefit' of Ogg is its openness
Me, I'm sticking with MP3 for a while. At 192kbps, I have to listen REALLY hard to distinguish it from CD.
How's this?
1. Start with large quantity of mountain dew
2. Add caffeine
3. Add Bricanyl
4. Add fizz
5. Release.
careful - the new strains use default.ida?XXXXXXX. Just grepping for default.ida should be enough...
Professional CD pirates will definitely find a way around it. Casual MP3 coders and swappers won't be affected by it - I don't think MP3 will encode a square wave very well.
Who does that leave? Home users trying to make a backup or a copy for a friend, both of which I believe are legal.
--
He-hey! Like the words of Obi-wan Kenobi - "Strike me down, and I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine"
...
Napster's getting bashed, but strangely enough, there's no corpse
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Plain Old Text?
It doesn't suffer from the the drawbacks of any ad format seen so far - it's not interruptive and it doesn't suck bigtime bandwidth.
If there were some way to embed text from another server on a page inline, that would be truly frightening - it would be much harder to distinguish ads from actual content.
But then again, it would have to be well written and targeted to blend into the page, otherwise you'd just skip over it. But well written and targeted advertising? Too much to ask for.
(Actually, I'm not sure if this can be done already - IFRAMEing it in already happens, but filtering/blocking already kills these. I'm not sure if you can do it with an SSI - I know PHP can do it. Dayem.)
--
Hey, these are "independent" lawyers right?
Seeing as Adobe knows nothing about authorising these guys (supposedly) then they could sue these lawyer guys for damaging their reputation - I mean, a lot of us here have suddenly decided to hate Adobe all of a sudden!
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Too right it is! I use Napster to keep myself supplied with (otherwise unobtainable) Asian music, and the amount of non-American content on Napster has hardly changed. Hooray for the American Way.
--