This article is amusing. My favorite part is: Mr. Aguilar's little car has just become the fastest non-turbocharged, gasoline-powered Honda Civic on the planet. Later they say that his modified Civic could beat out a stock Viper or Porche. There's only so much power you are going to be able to get out of a little 4-cylinder engine. You can only bore it out so much and the more you bore it out the less reliable it becomes and the less ammount of miles you will be able to put on it.
The article also doesn't mention what else he did to it. They do say it's not turbo charged but they don't say if it's supercharged, has nitro or what. The fact of the matter is "There's no replacement for displacement." You will always be able to squeeze more power out of a Viper's V10 engine than you ever will out of a little civic. Civic's are cheap, that's why they are popular. There cheap and they have lots of add ons you can get.
Give 2 teams an unlimited ammount of money. Give one a Viper and one a Civic. Tell them they need to keep the same engine they started with but they can do whatever they want to it. The viper would win, hands down. A chip doesn't magically give you power, it just unleashes the power that the factory locked away to make the engines reliable. -Chris
Actually it's even older than that. I've had the same technology for my motorcycle for a while. The drawback of course is that I can't use a laptop and drive my motorcycle at the same time.
My motorcycle has it so I can throw it on the dyno and tune it while it's running. It taps right into the fuel injection. (There's no computer chips on bikes yet) -Chris
Why would you pay someone to fix your car... can't you do that yourself?
Different people know different things. Just because most people on slashdot grew up playing with computers doesn't mean other people have. I personally would not need a computer repair service. But when your profession is something other than computers you may not be able to install windows or format a hard drive or even install a network card.
My future mother in law (one of the few people who I will help with windows problems) managed to set up a wireless network without too much trouble but I advised her as to what she would need to get and the basics of what she needed to do. However, everytime she booted into windows she got a missing file because of a program that when removed, didn't remove all the way. Something she just learned to deal with but took me all of about 5-10 minutes to track down and fix. Would I expect her to know how to go into the system registry and delete the references to the old program? (that's what was wrong with it though the error said to check the system.ini file)
But then again your just an AC posting an obvious troll question. -Chris
Most users who do not update their software probably also don't recompile their kernels and would instead get a new copy of red hat thus installing new updated versions of their software.
I think most people who want to keep a stable kernel would take the time to update their system or keep track of vulnerabilities in the software they do run. The only people I know that don't update their software and OS are windows users. Though they tend to update to the latest major release. (except for some people I know who still run 98) -Chris
This is for the ammount of information passed around from Chip to Chip and from Chip to Ram according to the post. This is not necessarily resolution. It means you can get more polygons and a more life-like image as well as more things on the screen acting independently.
3d was a great thing because it allowed us to move in another axis. However with the increase of information, you suffered with worse graphics at first (in terms of the detail) Things like this technology will allow Sony to add more complexity and detail to their games. Now all we need is developers to take full advantage of the ps2. -Chris
"Actually, Tolkien's middle-earth has no anti-industrial subtext."
Did you read Tolkien's books? Saruman's turning to evil was essentially his adoption of Industry. This is clearly seen in the book as well as in the movie. His tearing up the forest to fuel the fires and the army he creates.
"You would have seen this if Jackson had chosen to showcase a Dwarven civilization at the height of its power instead of debasing Gimli with "jokes"." Dwarves mines for gold, something done long before the Industrial revolution. They didn't mine for coal to fuel the fires of industry.
The elves lived in the forest in a sort of symbiant relation. The hobbits of course were farmers.
So all the good guys were not industrial and all the bad guys were. (the nutral ents were obviously anti-industry) -Chris
Well you see it does depend. If you hire a monkey out of high school, he's not going to be able to administer a linux box very well (assumming he is not a high school linux geek like I was) whereas they probably would be able to administer a windows box at least enough to keep it up and running most of the time. If you hire someone who knows linux really well then they would be able to manage a lot more linux servers by themselves than someone who knows windows really well.
Linux does remote administration a lot better than windows does. This alone allows the admin to work more efficiently. Forget TCO studies, I'd like to see an efficiency study. How efficient is it to administer a windows box vs. a Linux box? -Chris
The only thing that really surprised me was the javascript rank. Other than that I probably would have guessed the top ranking ones.
I think now that Java isn't as slow as it used to be, it's really catching on. I personally prefer it to C++ because it's typically a lot cleaner. (In my opinion) -Chris
It's not X that is lacking, it's typically the window manager that slows it down. Get yourself a lean window manager and X will run a lot faster.
As for network support, running X apps over the network is slow. I've used a linux box to connect via both Cable and DSL to a solaris machine at school and any x app is slow. Running from campus however is a lot better. -Chris
What happens when a user does something and gives you that phrase "I didn't do anything it just stopped working!" and you have to figure out what they did? Trying to figure out why a program is doing something it shouldn't requires troubleshooting.
I believe it. It's well known that Beowulf inspired Tolkien to write a lot of his works and he did translate it but I've never seen the translation. I guess this is why. -Chris
I don't know, the XBox Live kit is available to ship from amazon within 24 hours. The linux network adapter is sold out. Have fun wasting your money paying for games that should be free. -Chris
No game of any sort of Xbox is selling "like hotcakes". Sell well for Xbox, yes. Perhaps that means something, but they don't have any big sellers yet.
Compare sales of SOCOM (which has no service, as you point out) to any Xbox online game.
I agree... I just recently tried to find SOCOM. I decided to go to Best Buy (I had a gift card) and they are sold out. It's also sold out on amazon...
A quick check on Amazon shows that the XBox live starter kit is available and could ship in 24 hours.
Another quick check shows that the ps2 network adapter is sold out as well.
I also checked the top sellers in the video game department and it seems that GTA3: Vice City is No. 1. The PS2 itself is No. 2 followed by the memory card for the PS2 in No. 3. Know what No. 4 is? The Network adapter. Then some more PS2 games, a GB advanced game, The Sims for the PC, then the first XBox anything is at 16 and it's Splinter Cell which doesn't use XBox Live.
XBox live does eventually make the list but it's below a sold out SOCOM (SOCOM is 18 and XBox Live is 19) and the XBox itself is at 25.
Now this is just a small sample and I'm just going by what amazon has. Most of the Top sellers are PS2 games.
I'll go get SOCOM and pay once while you can pay your monthly fee. -Chris
Sony will probably never take off with online gaming since it has no centralized system. You'll have to pay a seperate bill for every single online PS2 game you want to play. Who's going to want to do that? I can understand if they come out with a killer online app, but that's only one game. Nintendo isn't taking their time, they're simply not placing emphasis on online gaming as an important part of GC. All that's coming out is Phantasy Star Online. Period. As far as MS blundering, trust me, it hasn't. I'm very happy with the service, as are most people I've talked to. Most reviews are also positive. I must ask, how can you justify that the biggest software company in the world has no experience in online gaming? Did I miss something?
Yes I think you did miss something... Microsoft is forcing you to pay a monthly fee to use the online service that most sony games offer for free. The only games that charge so far for the PS2 are the MMORPG which if they ever come to the XBox would probably charge an additional fee as well. So I do think you missed something.
Personally all the cool new games I hear that are coming out are are either for the PS2 or the Game Cube. The only game I heard that you would even think about getting an xbox for is Halo. But that's just my opinion.
I got the linux kit when it came out and as such the network adapter only has the ethernet jack and not the phone line. Not a big deal for me because I don't have dialup, just a cablemodem. Using it in the linux mode was just like setting up any ethernet card in linux and it was a breeze with the everquest beta. I just ran an ethernet cable from my ps2 to my netgear router which is connected to my cablemodem. No problems, works just like adding another computer onto the network. The everquest beta picked up the DHCP address and everything works. -Chris
I've been beta testing Everquest for the PS2 and the addition of the USB keyboard is really nice. I was able to fill in my username and password and such via the keyboard rather than the joystick and chatting with players is nice via the keyboard. Granted the only online game for the PS2 I can comment on is everquest though I will get SOCOM soon.
The only ps2 games that I know of that plan to charge are everquest (also charges monthly for the PC version so nothing new there) and Final Fantasy XI. In fact the main game it seems leading the way on the ps2 front SOCOM is free to play online. Oh and FFIX, everquest, and SOCOM are all not available on the XBox. I've beta tested Everquest and while I wasn't all that impressed I've heard nothing but good things about SOCOM which I am trying to find now since I didn't get it for Christmas.
Jackson is a hack, Bakshi is a hack. Why can't people realize that Tolkien's story as he wrote it was one of the greatest works of the 20th century and not, the general story was kindof good so lets change it?
I agree with most of what you say but the first movie was not true to the book. They completely rewrote the incident at the Shire in the beginning of the book and changed a great many things along the way. Reducing strong characters into juvenile delinquints (Merry and Pippin) And removing any suspense there was in the storyline. I remember the original suspense of "where's gandalf" but in the movie they spell it out for you before you get a chance to ask that question. I also think they should have left Gandalf out of the trailers as to not spoil it for people who haven't read the books.
These movies are good in their own right but are NOT faithful to the books at all. The love story they threw in there is such a Hollywood invention and no where present in the book. None of the characters in the book are there for comic relief. Granted some actions in the book are funny but not in the Hollywood slapstick funny like in the movie.
There are many things I do like that they throw in for people who have read the book that they don't really explain.
Other things I didn't like were minor and overlookable (like I always imagined the ents would be even bigger and more tree like.) I really wish that they would stop the Holywood dramatics (like Aragorn falling off the cliff) Why is it there? Aragorn is such a major character, to kill him off so lightly would be absurd so we know he will come back. Now we just have this pointless story element that shouldn't be there in the first place taking up space that could have been better used.
The battle scenes were great and I really liked the way that King Theoden was released from the spell.
There is no reason the book cannot be made into a movie. Everyone talks about how a book is different from a movie etc... While it is true certain elements work better on the screen vs. those in a book, but that's no reason to completely change the story, it just means you have to portray the information differently but it doesn't mean you need to change it. Tolkien paid a great ammount of attention to detail and that is one of the many reasons his books are so great. To ignore this detail and put whatever you want in, is just asking for troubles and holes in the story which is exactly what happened with Peter Jacksons adaptation. Someone mentioned Bakshi's horrible version which didn't have the dramatic special effects to make up for it's horrible raping of the storyline like Jackson has. I don't know how Peter Jackson can think he kept true to the story.
Actually a lot of people manage to get out of written signed contracts that weren't read all the way through. What makes you think anything I haven't signed is leagally binding? I just click a lot of buttons to play the game... I never really pay attention to what I click. -Chris
The problem is, who do you want your admins to be? Get a bunch of monkeys, throw them in a room with a win2k server and maybe your servers will be up and maybe they won't. Is uptime important to you? When you install new software and it requires you to restart is that important to you? If I install apache on linux, I don't need to reboot which means the engineers getting files from the samba server aren't disrupted. Whereas with windows you need to reboot it disrupting anyone else using the computer. How does that affect your TCO?
I've been using Debian for a while now. It is easy to administer. I just run dselect and choose update. Oh yeah did I mention I don't have to reboot unless I decide I want to install a new kernel. I haven't had to touch my linux box except to use it for programming, web surfing or whatever else I end up doing with it. You need very few admins who know what they are doing to administer a UNIX box. Linux also runs very well on older hardware.
Also the flexibility of linux, allowing you to remove most of the OS to make room for more free RAM and more free Hard Drive space. Granted this isn't really an issue in most cases since they are cheap, there are times it makes a difference. (As M$ pointed out in one of the whitepapers that was leaked a little while ago... saw it on slashdot)
Of course you could hire a high school kid to administer your win2k boxes, but would you want to? I'd personally would want someone who would be able to troubleshoot problems quickly. Therefore I would want someone who has a more intimate understanding of the OS not typically found in windows admins... I know a bunch of them and I certainly wouldn't want them to touch my computer and even less so to administer it.
You get what you pay for in terms of an admin (For the most part) and administering Linux really is a learning curve but once you learn you'll never go back. -Chris
Slashdot Mirror
This article is amusing. My favorite part is:
Mr. Aguilar's little car has just become the fastest non-turbocharged, gasoline-powered Honda Civic on the planet.
Later they say that his modified Civic could beat out a stock Viper or Porche. There's only so much power you are going to be able to get out of a little 4-cylinder engine. You can only bore it out so much and the more you bore it out the less reliable it becomes and the less ammount of miles you will be able to put on it.
The article also doesn't mention what else he did to it. They do say it's not turbo charged but they don't say if it's supercharged, has nitro or what. The fact of the matter is "There's no replacement for displacement." You will always be able to squeeze more power out of a Viper's V10 engine than you ever will out of a little civic. Civic's are cheap, that's why they are popular. There cheap and they have lots of add ons you can get.
Give 2 teams an unlimited ammount of money. Give one a Viper and one a Civic. Tell them they need to keep the same engine they started with but they can do whatever they want to it. The viper would win, hands down. A chip doesn't magically give you power, it just unleashes the power that the factory locked away to make the engines reliable.
-Chris
Actually it's even older than that. I've had the same technology for my motorcycle for a while. The drawback of course is that I can't use a laptop and drive my motorcycle at the same time.
My motorcycle has it so I can throw it on the dyno and tune it while it's running. It taps right into the fuel injection. (There's no computer chips on bikes yet)
-Chris
It had better be easy for anyone who touches my computer. I don't want these "hopeless cases" working on my computer.
-Chris
Why would you pay someone to fix your car... can't you do that yourself?
Different people know different things. Just because most people on slashdot grew up playing with computers doesn't mean other people have. I personally would not need a computer repair service. But when your profession is something other than computers you may not be able to install windows or format a hard drive or even install a network card.
My future mother in law (one of the few people who I will help with windows problems) managed to set up a wireless network without too much trouble but I advised her as to what she would need to get and the basics of what she needed to do. However, everytime she booted into windows she got a missing file because of a program that when removed, didn't remove all the way. Something she just learned to deal with but took me all of about 5-10 minutes to track down and fix. Would I expect her to know how to go into the system registry and delete the references to the old program? (that's what was wrong with it though the error said to check the system.ini file)
But then again your just an AC posting an obvious troll question.
-Chris
Most users who do not update their software probably also don't recompile their kernels and would instead get a new copy of red hat thus installing new updated versions of their software.
I think most people who want to keep a stable kernel would take the time to update their system or keep track of vulnerabilities in the software they do run. The only people I know that don't update their software and OS are windows users. Though they tend to update to the latest major release. (except for some people I know who still run 98)
-Chris
This is for the ammount of information passed around from Chip to Chip and from Chip to Ram according to the post. This is not necessarily resolution. It means you can get more polygons and a more life-like image as well as more things on the screen acting independently.
3d was a great thing because it allowed us to move in another axis. However with the increase of information, you suffered with worse graphics at first (in terms of the detail) Things like this technology will allow Sony to add more complexity and detail to their games. Now all we need is developers to take full advantage of the ps2.
-Chris
I've heard of it but I've never actually seen a copy. Anyone know if it's online somewhere?
-Chris
You may have a copy but I haven't seen it in print. (ie. a publisher is still printing it so you can go buy a new copy at the local bookstore)
"Actually, Tolkien's middle-earth has no anti-industrial subtext."
Did you read Tolkien's books? Saruman's turning to evil was essentially his adoption of Industry. This is clearly seen in the book as well as in the movie. His tearing up the forest to fuel the fires and the army he creates.
"You would have seen this if Jackson had chosen to showcase a Dwarven civilization at the height of its power instead of debasing Gimli with "jokes"."
Dwarves mines for gold, something done long before the Industrial revolution. They didn't mine for coal to fuel the fires of industry.
The elves lived in the forest in a sort of symbiant relation. The hobbits of course were farmers.
So all the good guys were not industrial and all the bad guys were. (the nutral ents were obviously anti-industry)
-Chris
Well you see it does depend. If you hire a monkey out of high school, he's not going to be able to administer a linux box very well (assumming he is not a high school linux geek like I was) whereas they probably would be able to administer a windows box at least enough to keep it up and running most of the time. If you hire someone who knows linux really well then they would be able to manage a lot more linux servers by themselves than someone who knows windows really well.
Linux does remote administration a lot better than windows does. This alone allows the admin to work more efficiently. Forget TCO studies, I'd like to see an efficiency study. How efficient is it to administer a windows box vs. a Linux box?
-Chris
The only thing that really surprised me was the javascript rank. Other than that I probably would have guessed the top ranking ones.
I think now that Java isn't as slow as it used to be, it's really catching on. I personally prefer it to C++ because it's typically a lot cleaner. (In my opinion)
-Chris
It's not X that is lacking, it's typically the window manager that slows it down. Get yourself a lean window manager and X will run a lot faster.
As for network support, running X apps over the network is slow. I've used a linux box to connect via both Cable and DSL to a solaris machine at school and any x app is slow. Running from campus however is a lot better.
-Chris
What happens when a user does something and gives you that phrase "I didn't do anything it just stopped working!" and you have to figure out what they did? Trying to figure out why a program is doing something it shouldn't requires troubleshooting.
I believe it. It's well known that Beowulf inspired Tolkien to write a lot of his works and he did translate it but I've never seen the translation. I guess this is why.
-Chris
I don't know, the XBox Live kit is available to ship from amazon within 24 hours. The linux network adapter is sold out. Have fun wasting your money paying for games that should be free.
-Chris
No game of any sort of Xbox is selling "like hotcakes". Sell well for Xbox, yes. Perhaps that means something, but they don't have any big sellers yet.
Compare sales of SOCOM (which has no service, as you point out) to any Xbox online game.
I agree... I just recently tried to find SOCOM. I decided to go to Best Buy (I had a gift card) and they are sold out. It's also sold out on amazon...
A quick check on Amazon shows that the XBox live starter kit is available and could ship in 24 hours.
Another quick check shows that the ps2 network adapter is sold out as well.
I also checked the top sellers in the video game department and it seems that GTA3: Vice City is No. 1. The PS2 itself is No. 2 followed by the memory card for the PS2 in No. 3. Know what No. 4 is? The Network adapter. Then some more PS2 games, a GB advanced game, The Sims for the PC, then the first XBox anything is at 16 and it's Splinter Cell which doesn't use XBox Live.
XBox live does eventually make the list but it's below a sold out SOCOM (SOCOM is 18 and XBox Live is 19) and the XBox itself is at 25.
Now this is just a small sample and I'm just going by what amazon has. Most of the Top sellers are PS2 games.
I'll go get SOCOM and pay once while you can pay your monthly fee.
-Chris
Sony will probably never take off with online gaming since it has no centralized system. You'll have to pay a seperate bill for every single online PS2 game you want to play. Who's going to want to do that? I can understand if they come out with a killer online app, but that's only one game. Nintendo isn't taking their time, they're simply not placing emphasis on online gaming as an important part of GC. All that's coming out is Phantasy Star Online. Period. As far as MS blundering, trust me, it hasn't. I'm very happy with the service, as are most people I've talked to. Most reviews are also positive. I must ask, how can you justify that the biggest software company in the world has no experience in online gaming? Did I miss something?
Yes I think you did miss something... Microsoft is forcing you to pay a monthly fee to use the online service that most sony games offer for free. The only games that charge so far for the PS2 are the MMORPG which if they ever come to the XBox would probably charge an additional fee as well. So I do think you missed something.
Personally all the cool new games I hear that are coming out are are either for the PS2 or the Game Cube. The only game I heard that you would even think about getting an xbox for is Halo. But that's just my opinion.
I got the linux kit when it came out and as such the network adapter only has the ethernet jack and not the phone line. Not a big deal for me because I don't have dialup, just a cablemodem. Using it in the linux mode was just like setting up any ethernet card in linux and it was a breeze with the everquest beta. I just ran an ethernet cable from my ps2 to my netgear router which is connected to my cablemodem. No problems, works just like adding another computer onto the network. The everquest beta picked up the DHCP address and everything works.
-Chris
I've been beta testing Everquest for the PS2 and the addition of the USB keyboard is really nice. I was able to fill in my username and password and such via the keyboard rather than the joystick and chatting with players is nice via the keyboard. Granted the only online game for the PS2 I can comment on is everquest though I will get SOCOM soon.
The only ps2 games that I know of that plan to charge are everquest (also charges monthly for the PC version so nothing new there) and Final Fantasy XI. In fact the main game it seems leading the way on the ps2 front SOCOM is free to play online. Oh and FFIX, everquest, and SOCOM are all not available on the XBox. I've beta tested Everquest and while I wasn't all that impressed I've heard nothing but good things about SOCOM which I am trying to find now since I didn't get it for Christmas.
Jackson is a hack, Bakshi is a hack. Why can't people realize that Tolkien's story as he wrote it was one of the greatest works of the 20th century and not, the general story was kindof good so lets change it?
I agree with most of what you say but the first movie was not true to the book. They completely rewrote the incident at the Shire in the beginning of the book and changed a great many things along the way. Reducing strong characters into juvenile delinquints (Merry and Pippin) And removing any suspense there was in the storyline. I remember the original suspense of "where's gandalf" but in the movie they spell it out for you before you get a chance to ask that question. I also think they should have left Gandalf out of the trailers as to not spoil it for people who haven't read the books.
These movies are good in their own right but are NOT faithful to the books at all. The love story they threw in there is such a Hollywood invention and no where present in the book. None of the characters in the book are there for comic relief. Granted some actions in the book are funny but not in the Hollywood slapstick funny like in the movie.
There are many things I do like that they throw in for people who have read the book that they don't really explain.
Other things I didn't like were minor and overlookable (like I always imagined the ents would be even bigger and more tree like.) I really wish that they would stop the Holywood dramatics (like Aragorn falling off the cliff) Why is it there? Aragorn is such a major character, to kill him off so lightly would be absurd so we know he will come back. Now we just have this pointless story element that shouldn't be there in the first place taking up space that could have been better used.
The battle scenes were great and I really liked the way that King Theoden was released from the spell.
There is no reason the book cannot be made into a movie. Everyone talks about how a book is different from a movie etc... While it is true certain elements work better on the screen vs. those in a book, but that's no reason to completely change the story, it just means you have to portray the information differently but it doesn't mean you need to change it. Tolkien paid a great ammount of attention to detail and that is one of the many reasons his books are so great. To ignore this detail and put whatever you want in, is just asking for troubles and holes in the story which is exactly what happened with Peter Jacksons adaptation. Someone mentioned Bakshi's horrible version which didn't have the dramatic special effects to make up for it's horrible raping of the storyline like Jackson has. I don't know how Peter Jackson can think he kept true to the story.
Actually a lot of people manage to get out of written signed contracts that weren't read all the way through. What makes you think anything I haven't signed is leagally binding? I just click a lot of buttons to play the game... I never really pay attention to what I click.
-Chris
The problem is, who do you want your admins to be? Get a bunch of monkeys, throw them in a room with a win2k server and maybe your servers will be up and maybe they won't. Is uptime important to you? When you install new software and it requires you to restart is that important to you? If I install apache on linux, I don't need to reboot which means the engineers getting files from the samba server aren't disrupted. Whereas with windows you need to reboot it disrupting anyone else using the computer. How does that affect your TCO?
I've been using Debian for a while now. It is easy to administer. I just run dselect and choose update. Oh yeah did I mention I don't have to reboot unless I decide I want to install a new kernel. I haven't had to touch my linux box except to use it for programming, web surfing or whatever else I end up doing with it. You need very few admins who know what they are doing to administer a UNIX box. Linux also runs very well on older hardware.
Also the flexibility of linux, allowing you to remove most of the OS to make room for more free RAM and more free Hard Drive space. Granted this isn't really an issue in most cases since they are cheap, there are times it makes a difference. (As M$ pointed out in one of the whitepapers that was leaked a little while ago... saw it on slashdot)
Of course you could hire a high school kid to administer your win2k boxes, but would you want to? I'd personally would want someone who would be able to troubleshoot problems quickly. Therefore I would want someone who has a more intimate understanding of the OS not typically found in windows admins... I know a bunch of them and I certainly wouldn't want them to touch my computer and even less so to administer it.
You get what you pay for in terms of an admin (For the most part) and administering Linux really is a learning curve but once you learn you'll never go back.
-Chris