They may not file lawsuits regarding patents very often, but Apple has a very active (and frightening) legal team. Think of all the times Apple's *fansites* (for crying out loud) were sent Cease and Desist letters for publishing new Mac photos one day early. This was also the same legal team that managed to get pPod off the map before the interface patent even came out. That's pretty powerful.
Personally, I don't think Apple would stand a chance getting this patent (I posted prior art in another comment). But in this world, they probably will. I'm patenting "the process of holding down one mouse button and clicking another" next.
Trillian: news and new buddies appear in small windows that fade over time. If you place your mouse over them, you can interact with them. Otherwise, the windows eventually fade after little use.
Outlook 2003: New message notification window fades in, stays faded in while the mouse is over it, then fades out (if the mouse goes over it while fading out, it fades back in again).
Just about every warez "proggie" from 1999 on (when they introduced alpha rendering in Windows).
Apple really doesn't have a case here, but they'll probably get the patent anyway.
I looked at the trailer than read through the comments before I got here, and was surprised to see a +5 saying Pixar only writes for children. Did he even watch the trailer?
This movie is for the Adult Swim crowd. It's got nothing "adult" in it (sex, violence -- well, there's explosions), but not every show on Adult Swim does either. It's the writing. Are children going to laugh at a character yelling "Where is my super suit, woman?!?" Probably not. But I laughed out loud more than a few times watching it.
Disney braves a thin line between children and adult entertainment (except for their refusal to distribute Michael Moore's latest movie, which is just dumb). Some stuff bridges the line rather admirably (like the Muppets, which they more or less acquired). Ditto on ABC after hours. A Bug's Life, though? Very little for adults to laugh at. Children will laugh at The Incredibles, but I have a feeling adults will get the most out of it.
Yes, the console was successful for homebrewers PRECISELY because it failed. And homebrewers obviously want consoles to fail so they can longer purchase them. Excellent logic. I'd expect more from a low-number user.
To be honest, government has a lot more important shit to worry about than copyright law right now. Look at the news. I'm surprised these guys are even bringing up this stuff (it's going to get lost in the crossfire of how to deal with a particularly drastic international situation that's only growing worse).
The law will be tempered, eventually. Once the economy gets back to growing and we can focus are attention away from war we can take another look copyright law. Now's not the time.
Yes, there was an installer, but they didn't put it at the root of the directory. Small token of appreciation, but they said it was to show their support of Linux this time around.
Um, where did you get this information, exactly? Any kind of source? Everything I've read (and the people I've talked to) say it was financial issues between MS and EA, and I write for this industry.
Not only that, the Linux dedicated server came out first.
Not only that, it was the first game (or so Epic claims) to have an Linux install script right at the root of the disc, and a Penguin right alongside the Windows and Mac logo on the box. It was a small gesture, but I remember reading one of the creators saying "We thought it'd be cool."
Yes, but they can at least *approach* online as opposed to the business equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears.
Look at Blizzard's Battle.net. All of their games (even WoW coming out soon) support dialup. It's not hard. They just need to write tighter network code and avoid high speed areas like first-person shooters (which they're pretty much doing, anyway).
The "outside" titles: Tennis, Links, etc. were great. I'm talking about the bread and butter: football, basketball, hockey. In these areas MS got shown the floor.
You had a company in flux for several years, that's what happened. Nintendo pissed Rare off by not giving them enough creative freedom (how many googly-eye games can one system have)? Rare pissed Nintendo off by not delivering games on time. MS added to the equation by throwing their money at Rare every five minutes. How the hell is a company supposed to get any work done with all this background crap?
Granted, at least MS is patient enough to wait. Bungie has delivered all of one game for MS so far, and no one is pushing Bungie to rush Halo 2 out the door. Ditto on Rare. They released "Grabbed by the Ghoulies" (actually a better game than a lot of reviews gave it) more as a test than anything. Kind of like a tech demo. We may not see Rare produce anything substantial for a couple more years, maybe not even until the next generation.
And MS, unlike Nintendo, isn't going to put up with any crap. If Rare doesn't deliver they'll drop them like so much spare change. $400 million wasn't a purchase, it was a bet.
I wouldn't say neglected, just being brought into the fold. It was kind of like when force feedback debuted a few years back. At first it was a novelty, but then developers were like "Hey, we can use this to augment x, y, and z experience". Now you can't walk two feet without stepping over a controller with built-in force feedback.
If it's done *right* (and very few games have done this), single can complement multiplayer perfectly. A very good example is Project Gotham Racing 2 on Xbox. At first I was like "Eh, another racing game..." but as soon as I saw that you were always online, even when playing single player, I slowly became impressed with the design. No matter where you are in the game, you can always check out other players replays, how well you handled a track compared to others, or just play multiplayer. It's incredibly addictive because there's always an element of competition to draw you back.
That's why Nintendo's stance (avoiding online) seems so odd. They claim it's not ready for primetime. Clearly it is. Nintendo has made great efforts to introduce extrasensory experiences to their games (the Rumble Pak was the first really successful force feedback, the Game Boy/GameCube link is a nice touch [even if it forces people to buy more stuff]) but they're totally missing the ball on this one. They should be looking at it as yet another tool to augment gaming, rather than letting MS and Sony dig their heels in. Once they're in, neither company is going to let go easily.
Or you can buy any of a number of $20 USB webcams and hook it up to a Pentium II box and a screen for less than 50 bucks, total.
Xbox is no longer a value proposition for open source camps. It was a nice hobby, but honestly, there's a lot better things that people can be spending their time and money on. Leave the system to its games (which are pretty damn good now).
I'm a fan of Xbox and a fan of EA (to an extent -- stupid EA Trax), but I can't help but wonder if EA introducing their sports games to Xbox Live had anything to do with MS cancelling their sports games for this year. Who knows the terms of the deal, but I can imagine an EA rep saying "Look, we'll do this. But the Xbox Sports Network thing has got to go." "How about a limited number of games and a delay of one year?" "Deal."
Not to say that MS's sports games were particularly good -- they weren't. But I can't help but wonder what this year's battle is going to be like with only EA and Sega fighting over the majority of sports titles (Sony also has put it's 989 series on hiatus for a year).
I haven't found a better natural keyboard than the one MS has made, personally. An IBM Model M is hardly comfortable and I'd prefer not to get carpal tunnel syndrome. I got an MS natural keyboard a few years after it came out and I'm firmly convinced it's help keep me away from carpal.
Wise man say: if you have a choice between suggesting users use WEP or not, suggest WEP regardless of the keyspace. It's better than cleartext.
Also, WPA is almost completely different. Quickly changing keys, easy to remember passwords. It's going to become the defacto standard in less than 2 years, watch and see.
What the hell are you talking about? Since when is spyware considered an "infection"? Since when does Knoppix have enough marketshare to merit spyware. Please don't talk if you have no clue what you're talking about.
Congratulations. You've never used a MS networking product.
I have. They're phenominally easy to use, and basically force you to set 128-bit WEP as the default. The newer ones suggest you use 256-bit WPA, which works hunky-dory with Apple's WPA implementation. I have a MN-700 base station a short distance from me right now and it absolutely screams.
Lest not overjudge. Like their keyboards and mice, they're damn fine products. If only they put that focus into other stuff.
No, it doesn't take long, because you carefully craft a source image that has the company apps and push it out once. A new app need to be installed (or an old app upgraded)? Group Policy, or any number of methods.
Time spent was a one-time deal: set up the apps they need on the source machine and push it out through Ghost. If another app needs to be installed company-wide, use Group Policy (or any other number of methods).
All the users really want is to access the internet anyway. If they want to install stuff like AIM, too bad.
"it's just that without the *nix ability to just login as root in"
Uh, you do have that. Right-click any executable and choose Run As. Enter the Administrators password. Don't see Run As? Hold down the shift key when you're right-clicking.
Want to do it on the command line? Type runas/? for instructions. And don't give me this crap about "The average home user wouldn't..." The average home user wouldn't know about other tty sessions either.
Permissions are you friend. We had a spyware/virus situation in our office until we instituted a new policy: no one has install permissions. You want to install stuff, come to us. You can download all the crap you want, you just can't install it. Complaints will get filed in the circular bin.
We coupled XP permissions, SUS (godsend, that thing) and NAV Corporate. NAV updates everyone's definitions as soon as they come out. SUS sends out updates nightly (usually a few days pass after they're issued by MS so we can test and approve them). Firewall keeps dump RPC requests out.
Since then: no viruses, no spyware. Time taken to set up all of the pieces: a few days. Money spent: XP licenses came with new machines, NAV cost a couple grand, SUS was free. Time and frustration saved: priceless.
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Here's some examples. Should I post more?
They may not file lawsuits regarding patents very often, but Apple has a very active (and frightening) legal team. Think of all the times Apple's *fansites* (for crying out loud) were sent Cease and Desist letters for publishing new Mac photos one day early. This was also the same legal team that managed to get pPod off the map before the interface patent even came out. That's pretty powerful.
Personally, I don't think Apple would stand a chance getting this patent (I posted prior art in another comment). But in this world, they probably will. I'm patenting "the process of holding down one mouse button and clicking another" next.
Trillian: news and new buddies appear in small windows that fade over time. If you place your mouse over them, you can interact with them. Otherwise, the windows eventually fade after little use.
Outlook 2003: New message notification window fades in, stays faded in while the mouse is over it, then fades out (if the mouse goes over it while fading out, it fades back in again).
Just about every warez "proggie" from 1999 on (when they introduced alpha rendering in Windows).
Apple really doesn't have a case here, but they'll probably get the patent anyway.
I looked at the trailer than read through the comments before I got here, and was surprised to see a +5 saying Pixar only writes for children. Did he even watch the trailer?
This movie is for the Adult Swim crowd. It's got nothing "adult" in it (sex, violence -- well, there's explosions), but not every show on Adult Swim does either. It's the writing. Are children going to laugh at a character yelling "Where is my super suit, woman?!?" Probably not. But I laughed out loud more than a few times watching it.
Disney braves a thin line between children and adult entertainment (except for their refusal to distribute Michael Moore's latest movie, which is just dumb). Some stuff bridges the line rather admirably (like the Muppets, which they more or less acquired). Ditto on ABC after hours. A Bug's Life, though? Very little for adults to laugh at. Children will laugh at The Incredibles, but I have a feeling adults will get the most out of it.
Yes, the console was successful for homebrewers PRECISELY because it failed. And homebrewers obviously want consoles to fail so they can longer purchase them. Excellent logic. I'd expect more from a low-number user.
To be honest, government has a lot more important shit to worry about than copyright law right now. Look at the news. I'm surprised these guys are even bringing up this stuff (it's going to get lost in the crossfire of how to deal with a particularly drastic international situation that's only growing worse).
The law will be tempered, eventually. Once the economy gets back to growing and we can focus are attention away from war we can take another look copyright law. Now's not the time.
So they should be pushing no security at all? Are you an idiot?
Yes, there was an installer, but they didn't put it at the root of the directory. Small token of appreciation, but they said it was to show their support of Linux this time around.
Um, where did you get this information, exactly? Any kind of source? Everything I've read (and the people I've talked to) say it was financial issues between MS and EA, and I write for this industry.
Not only that, the Linux dedicated server came out first.
Not only that, it was the first game (or so Epic claims) to have an Linux install script right at the root of the disc, and a Penguin right alongside the Windows and Mac logo on the box. It was a small gesture, but I remember reading one of the creators saying "We thought it'd be cool."
Yes, but they can at least *approach* online as opposed to the business equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears.
Look at Blizzard's Battle.net. All of their games (even WoW coming out soon) support dialup. It's not hard. They just need to write tighter network code and avoid high speed areas like first-person shooters (which they're pretty much doing, anyway).
The "outside" titles: Tennis, Links, etc. were great. I'm talking about the bread and butter: football, basketball, hockey. In these areas MS got shown the floor.
"By working hard on making their PC software better, rather than than wasting time making crappy games for a crappy console."
Yeah, man, I know. MechWarrior, Project Gotham 2... those games totally sucked. *rolls eyes*
"What the hell happened?"
You had a company in flux for several years, that's what happened. Nintendo pissed Rare off by not giving them enough creative freedom (how many googly-eye games can one system have)? Rare pissed Nintendo off by not delivering games on time. MS added to the equation by throwing their money at Rare every five minutes. How the hell is a company supposed to get any work done with all this background crap?
Granted, at least MS is patient enough to wait. Bungie has delivered all of one game for MS so far, and no one is pushing Bungie to rush Halo 2 out the door. Ditto on Rare. They released "Grabbed by the Ghoulies" (actually a better game than a lot of reviews gave it) more as a test than anything. Kind of like a tech demo. We may not see Rare produce anything substantial for a couple more years, maybe not even until the next generation.
And MS, unlike Nintendo, isn't going to put up with any crap. If Rare doesn't deliver they'll drop them like so much spare change. $400 million wasn't a purchase, it was a bet.
I wouldn't say neglected, just being brought into the fold. It was kind of like when force feedback debuted a few years back. At first it was a novelty, but then developers were like "Hey, we can use this to augment x, y, and z experience". Now you can't walk two feet without stepping over a controller with built-in force feedback.
If it's done *right* (and very few games have done this), single can complement multiplayer perfectly. A very good example is Project Gotham Racing 2 on Xbox. At first I was like "Eh, another racing game..." but as soon as I saw that you were always online, even when playing single player, I slowly became impressed with the design. No matter where you are in the game, you can always check out other players replays, how well you handled a track compared to others, or just play multiplayer. It's incredibly addictive because there's always an element of competition to draw you back.
That's why Nintendo's stance (avoiding online) seems so odd. They claim it's not ready for primetime. Clearly it is. Nintendo has made great efforts to introduce extrasensory experiences to their games (the Rumble Pak was the first really successful force feedback, the Game Boy/GameCube link is a nice touch [even if it forces people to buy more stuff]) but they're totally missing the ball on this one. They should be looking at it as yet another tool to augment gaming, rather than letting MS and Sony dig their heels in. Once they're in, neither company is going to let go easily.
Or you can buy any of a number of $20 USB webcams and hook it up to a Pentium II box and a screen for less than 50 bucks, total.
Xbox is no longer a value proposition for open source camps. It was a nice hobby, but honestly, there's a lot better things that people can be spending their time and money on. Leave the system to its games (which are pretty damn good now).
Not to say that MS's sports games were particularly good -- they weren't. But I can't help but wonder what this year's battle is going to be like with only EA and Sega fighting over the majority of sports titles (Sony also has put it's 989 series on hiatus for a year).
I haven't found a better natural keyboard than the one MS has made, personally. An IBM Model M is hardly comfortable and I'd prefer not to get carpal tunnel syndrome. I got an MS natural keyboard a few years after it came out and I'm firmly convinced it's help keep me away from carpal.
Wise man say: if you have a choice between suggesting users use WEP or not, suggest WEP regardless of the keyspace. It's better than cleartext.
Also, WPA is almost completely different. Quickly changing keys, easy to remember passwords. It's going to become the defacto standard in less than 2 years, watch and see.
What the hell are you talking about? Since when is spyware considered an "infection"? Since when does Knoppix have enough marketshare to merit spyware. Please don't talk if you have no clue what you're talking about.
Congratulations. You've never used a MS networking product.
I have. They're phenominally easy to use, and basically force you to set 128-bit WEP as the default. The newer ones suggest you use 256-bit WPA, which works hunky-dory with Apple's WPA implementation. I have a MN-700 base station a short distance from me right now and it absolutely screams.
Lest not overjudge. Like their keyboards and mice, they're damn fine products. If only they put that focus into other stuff.
No, it doesn't take long, because you carefully craft a source image that has the company apps and push it out once. A new app need to be installed (or an old app upgraded)? Group Policy, or any number of methods.
Time spent was a one-time deal: set up the apps they need on the source machine and push it out through Ghost. If another app needs to be installed company-wide, use Group Policy (or any other number of methods).
All the users really want is to access the internet anyway. If they want to install stuff like AIM, too bad.
"it's just that without the *nix ability to just login as root in"
/? for instructions. And don't give me this crap about "The average home user wouldn't..." The average home user wouldn't know about other tty sessions either.
Uh, you do have that. Right-click any executable and choose Run As. Enter the Administrators password. Don't see Run As? Hold down the shift key when you're right-clicking.
Want to do it on the command line? Type runas
We coupled XP permissions, SUS (godsend, that thing) and NAV Corporate. NAV updates everyone's definitions as soon as they come out. SUS sends out updates nightly (usually a few days pass after they're issued by MS so we can test and approve them). Firewall keeps dump RPC requests out.
Since then: no viruses, no spyware. Time taken to set up all of the pieces: a few days. Money spent: XP licenses came with new machines, NAV cost a couple grand, SUS was free. Time and frustration saved: priceless.