Ida know-- the XBox still looks like a better choice for hacking than this thing. Everything about the GameCube screams "proprietary". Everything about the XBox screams "hack me".
That said, I got a chance to play both the GameCube and XBox kiosks, and attend the XBox Unleashed event in New York. The GameCube has a ridiculously functional controller and some really fun games-- it was just plain old entertaining to see Luigi yell "Mario!" in full 3D. The XBox games vary wildly. NFL Fever looked absolutely awful-- almost like a Dreamcast game. Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3 looked absolutely beautiful. The controller also gave me a mixed opinion of the system. It's large for "real-sized" hands but bulky as well.
What seals the deal for me, I think, is the hackability. If it turns out that XBox releases some crap games (which is possible) I still have a nice NVidia motherboard, chipset, and PIII to play with. Plus I can always use the hard drive and I'm sure I can tweak the USB ports to fit "regular" USB. GameCube, I don't think, would ever be that tweakable. Heck, I can probably make the XBox into a Linux server if I felt like it.
I'm going to get an XBox for hackability, and you should, too.
I know we usually have the anti-MS, pro-everything else bias around here, but I was wondering: does anyone have any stories of Microsoft software doing anything similar? I know the Linux installs are pretty adament during the partitioning process ("Watch out! Look out!"), but I can't think of anything by MS doing the same thing.
Sidebar-question: is Windows *ever* used in the publishing/effects industry?
Every time I work for a company we always have a few hundred Windows machines for desktop users, a mix of NT/2000/Netware/Linux/FreeBSD machines for servers, and Macs for desktop publishing and photo editing. It doesn't seem like Windows is *ever* used for anything higher-end computationally, even with the end user.
"Terms of the prospective settlement were closely guarded, and people close to the negotiations cautioned that precise language was still being worked out even between Microsoft and the Justice Department."
which means absolutely nothing has been worked out. We all knew a deal would eventually be worked out, but without specifics it's still quite up in the air.
Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surpised if the Justice Dept. found the recent "concessions" by Microsoft (allowing icons of Internet Explorer to be removed; allowing the user to easily change the default browser on the Start Menu) to be enough. This was the same Justice Department, after all, that "demonstrated" how it could remove Internet Explorer by deleting the icon from the desktop.
A lot of been handling the "paper media doesn't last as long as digital media" argument, so I won't touch it. More to the point, though, I think digital manipulation is a much bigger threat to valid records as a whole. Tonight's most egregious event: the World Series, with Fox's omnipresent digitally-created banner behind the batter, on the tarmac wall. It was not only:
- Distracting - Only in some shots - And deceitful
it was also poorly done. The artists made an effort to "rough up" the banner to make it match the video taped shots but it was quite obviously faked. Fox's "laser puck" experiment with the NHL was more real.
Further, any time a future generation wants to watch my taped version of the World Series, they will have to contend with looking at something that brings about the "what were they thinking" factor. Heaven forbid years from now, when some archeologist digs up a VHS player (just watched Cowboy Bebop earlier this week -- forgive me) and the viewer actually thinks the banner was real.
This started in earnest with the millenium celebrations, but I'm more disturbed by this beginning to affect everyday sporting events. What's next? On my way into work, billboards "Gatored" with multiple layers of holigrammed video?
Should've spent the money on some better linebackers for your football team.:)
Re:Not only does XP have the command prompt
on
MS DOS: A Eulogy
·
· Score: 2
*wonders how this guy got a +1 bonus*
"Even worse, after all this time working on making a new GUI interface, it still has Ye Ole Program Manager."
It's been kept there for backward compatibility, noone uses it, and if you like to use it you have the option to. Linux is *loaded* with programs like this.
"That, and Notepad STILL can't open files bigger than about 640 KB."
Um, I don't know what version of notepad.exe you run, but mine handles several megabyte files just fine. Uh, get with the times?
Of the upcoming machines left in the console wars (Playstation 2, XBox, and GameCube), GameCube appears to be the "least hackable", and yet its fanboys' support is rampant. I'm not totally against Nintendo -- the Game Boy Advance rocks, and playing Doom on it has brought back memories; plus, it's a great piece of little hardware -- but one's got to wonder if the Pokemon generation has been programmed to run out and purchase anything 8 inches by 8 inches.
From a hacker's standpoint, the systems breakdown in "potential hackability":
- XBox - Playstation 2 - GameCube
XBox is actually looking suprisingly promising. I mean, com'on: built-in hard drive, DVD drive, ethernet, digital out, NVidia components. This is a hacker's wet dream. While the GameCube has proprietary components that, at best, will be as difficult to port Linux to as has been the PlayStation 2 (which many Sony fanboys continue to deny).
Personally, if I have the extra money, I'm going to purchase an XBox. Whether or not it's going to stay an XBox for long is debatable. I would say that "the system with the best games will win the war", but as we saw with Sega, even having really cool, innovative games is sometimes not enough to beat established marketing machines.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed this, but a heads-up to everyone else: there is indeed a way to get "hacked" copies of XP, without the activation. The key was to take a combination of the corporate edition (which doesn't have activation), coupled with a corporate key. The original copies circulating around the web required massive hacks to defeat activation (in the final releases of the "normal" Pro code) and the timebomb (in the RC releases).
Our company purchased an "Open License" for XP for about 200 users, so naturally I put one on my mobile laptop. The OS is actually suprising in some areas, irritating in others. The compatibility is a nice touch for those who have been running W2K (and couldn't get all their games to work); and the Start menu is more functional now than it was before. The Control Panel has become less intuitive, though.
Back to what I was saying: all you need is a copy of the corporate edition (which never asks for activation) and a corporate key. I have my machine booting corporate edition XP and Mandrake 8.1. I couldn't be happier.
"...a number of the BeOS believers tried to find a new home. Some found comfort in AtheOS..."
I don't mean to be frank, but what's the big deal? There are *plenty* of other OS's out there if one dies out, some much better. And most college students have shown that at its barest, anyone can custom-create an OS (or take an existing OS and modify it to their desires).
To me, it's like the people who still hang onto the Commodore 64 as "the ultimate gaming machine". I admit, I started my life on a TI-99/4A, but I haven't limited myself to it. This field is all about changing and adjusting and, quite frankly, the BeOS people are going to be left behind.
I just had a great revelation (which occured when I banged my head on the router rack 5 minutes ago): we can take them all on with Open Source processors! You bring paperclips for wiring, I'll mix sand and lime for Silicon. We'll conquer the world as we did with software!
Coming soon, Open Source hard drives. Does anyone have any spare beer coasters?
...y'all know you can save Media Player files without any protection at all, right? Media Player 8 (in Windows XP) even asks you up front if you want to bother with protection.
Seems redundant. If I want to share files with others, I would assume they'd be smart enough to save them unprotected.
Ugh, not for me. Sony is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, much like Microsoft (which most people seem to forget around here). Yes, they've made us 18-24 year-olds happy with the Playstation, marketted directly to our demographic. But the honest truth is that they are just as coniving, cunning, and ruthless as any other conglomerate. I'll pass.
Slashdot Mirror
That said, I got a chance to play both the GameCube and XBox kiosks, and attend the XBox Unleashed event in New York. The GameCube has a ridiculously functional controller and some really fun games-- it was just plain old entertaining to see Luigi yell "Mario!" in full 3D. The XBox games vary wildly. NFL Fever looked absolutely awful-- almost like a Dreamcast game. Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3 looked absolutely beautiful. The controller also gave me a mixed opinion of the system. It's large for "real-sized" hands but bulky as well.
What seals the deal for me, I think, is the hackability. If it turns out that XBox releases some crap games (which is possible) I still have a nice NVidia motherboard, chipset, and PIII to play with. Plus I can always use the hard drive and I'm sure I can tweak the USB ports to fit "regular" USB. GameCube, I don't think, would ever be that tweakable. Heck, I can probably make the XBox into a Linux server if I felt like it.
I'm going to get an XBox for hackability, and you should, too.
Can Mac really be the anti-Christ? :)
I guess this would be the same thing as my cell phone bill. And my magazines. And my electricity. And my cup of coffee every morning, etc.
Wake up: everything is becoming subscriptions. MS is just slotting itself with every other "service provider".
Unless, of course, you require your devices to be "pretty".
Every time I work for a company we always have a few hundred Windows machines for desktop users, a mix of NT/2000/Netware/Linux/FreeBSD machines for servers, and Macs for desktop publishing and photo editing. It doesn't seem like Windows is *ever* used for anything higher-end computationally, even with the end user.
"Terms of the prospective settlement were closely guarded, and people close to the negotiations cautioned that precise language was still being worked out even between Microsoft and the Justice Department."
which means absolutely nothing has been worked out. We all knew a deal would eventually be worked out, but without specifics it's still quite up in the air.
Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surpised if the Justice Dept. found the recent "concessions" by Microsoft (allowing icons of Internet Explorer to be removed; allowing the user to easily change the default browser on the Start Menu) to be enough. This was the same Justice Department, after all, that "demonstrated" how it could remove Internet Explorer by deleting the icon from the desktop.
Watch for more tomfoolery...
I'd say, given the diet the Al-Qaeda seems to be giving him, that would be 98 pounds added to the universe, give or take.
- Distracting
- Only in some shots
- And deceitful
it was also poorly done. The artists made an effort to "rough up" the banner to make it match the video taped shots but it was quite obviously faked. Fox's "laser puck" experiment with the NHL was more real.
Further, any time a future generation wants to watch my taped version of the World Series, they will have to contend with looking at something that brings about the "what were they thinking" factor. Heaven forbid years from now, when some archeologist digs up a VHS player (just watched Cowboy Bebop earlier this week -- forgive me) and the viewer actually thinks the banner was real.
This started in earnest with the millenium celebrations, but I'm more disturbed by this beginning to affect everyday sporting events. What's next? On my way into work, billboards "Gatored" with multiple layers of holigrammed video?
Should've spent the money on some better linebackers for your football team. :)
"Even worse, after all this time working on making a new GUI interface, it still has Ye Ole Program Manager."
It's been kept there for backward compatibility, noone uses it, and if you like to use it you have the option to. Linux is *loaded* with programs like this.
"That, and Notepad STILL can't open files bigger than about 640 KB."
Um, I don't know what version of notepad.exe you run, but mine handles several megabyte files just fine. Uh, get with the times?
From a hacker's standpoint, the systems breakdown in "potential hackability":
- XBox
- Playstation 2
- GameCube
XBox is actually looking suprisingly promising. I mean, com'on: built-in hard drive, DVD drive, ethernet, digital out, NVidia components. This is a hacker's wet dream. While the GameCube has proprietary components that, at best, will be as difficult to port Linux to as has been the PlayStation 2 (which many Sony fanboys continue to deny).
Personally, if I have the extra money, I'm going to purchase an XBox. Whether or not it's going to stay an XBox for long is debatable. I would say that "the system with the best games will win the war", but as we saw with Sega, even having really cool, innovative games is sometimes not enough to beat established marketing machines.
Sorry, I had to say it. Actually, XP is kinda purty. Been playing with it the last couple days and haven't gotten it to crash... yet.
Our company purchased an "Open License" for XP for about 200 users, so naturally I put one on my mobile laptop. The OS is actually suprising in some areas, irritating in others. The compatibility is a nice touch for those who have been running W2K (and couldn't get all their games to work); and the Start menu is more functional now than it was before. The Control Panel has become less intuitive, though.
Back to what I was saying: all you need is a copy of the corporate edition (which never asks for activation) and a corporate key. I have my machine booting corporate edition XP and Mandrake 8.1. I couldn't be happier.
You could always change the blue screen with a few registry hacks up until ME. Green always freaked people out, though.
You mean Linux.
I don't mean to be frank, but what's the big deal? There are *plenty* of other OS's out there if one dies out, some much better. And most college students have shown that at its barest, anyone can custom-create an OS (or take an existing OS and modify it to their desires).
To me, it's like the people who still hang onto the Commodore 64 as "the ultimate gaming machine". I admit, I started my life on a TI-99/4A, but I haven't limited myself to it. This field is all about changing and adjusting and, quite frankly, the BeOS people are going to be left behind.
But that's your view. Quite frankly, most people outside of Slashdotters think file-sharing is, bluntly, stealing. As do I.
Loaded statement... entering Slashdot filter code...
Made by Slashdot author = PASS...
Negative against Microsoft = PASS...
Vaguely positive to Open Source operating systems = PASS...
Good to go.
Coming soon, Open Source hard drives. Does anyone have any spare beer coasters?
Oh yeah, it's Linux.
Seems redundant. If I want to share files with others, I would assume they'd be smart enough to save them unprotected.
Why not? They've already stole the Windows 95 icons.
Also, Palm (n): See 3Com.
Ugh, not for me. Sony is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, much like Microsoft (which most people seem to forget around here). Yes, they've made us 18-24 year-olds happy with the Playstation, marketted directly to our demographic. But the honest truth is that they are just as coniving, cunning, and ruthless as any other conglomerate. I'll pass.
Can you imagine the Microsoft ad? "Now talk to the computer *the way you've always wanted to*. IntelliSense handles all forms of four letter words..."