You mean those things which contain colored gel which shows you if the box was ever tipped the wrong way or dropped? I've seen those on large boxes as well.
Problem with those is they only record 1 event.
It'd be nice to be able to see the abuses over time vs. where the package was located.
It would be pretty funny to ship an activated blackbox through UPS though... IIRC, those things also have accelerometers as well, which would be useful to recording abuse.
While I've had UPS leave large, conspicuous computer boxes on the porch, they *refuse* to leave my hosuemate's Amazon purchases. Computer - $1000. Amazon shipment - $15. I don't get it.
BTW, when I called UPS about them leaving a computer on my porch with a sticker that said "ADULT SIGNATURE REQUIRED", their response was that the driver signed for the package. When I asked them why they couldn't leave the Amazon box on my porch, they said I had to sign for it.
I've gotten boxes from UPS that have had tire tracks on them.
The 1U server packed in dense foam (same packaging we use to ship stuff all over the world) didn't stand a chance. The case was completely crushed in the center.
At a previous company, we ordered one of those metal cabinets. The cabinet came unassembled, unfortunatly the box sported a wide dusty tire track that we later found out belonged to a forklift... The cabinet company ended up shipping us another one, because we couldn't get the holes to match (I wonder why...)
At my current company, we make 1U servers. One day our RMA department received one of our boxes from a customer who refused to accept it from UPS. The shipping box sported a truck tire track(!) and was bent at an odd angle. Apparentally, the box had fallen off an UPS truck, and was run over by the truck behind it. The UPS driver retrieved the box and delivered it anyways. The case was crushed. We had to saw the screw heads off, and use a crowbar to get the case off. The mainboard was bent, though only a few capacitors had popped off. The powersupply was crushed, we didn't dare plug it in. The hard drive was bent(!), as were the DIMMS (looked like a frowning mouth.) We had UPS pay for a new server, and shipping via FedEx to the customer. I wish we'd taken pictures of that thing....
I avoid UPS as much as I can. I've never had a problem with the US Postal Service or FedEx.
This makes sense to me, from an internationalization point of view. Not everyone is going to be able to recognize "A" - especially if your native written language doesn't use letters.
However, even a 3 year old will know what a circle, square, triangle, and cross are - even if they use different words for them.
Actuall, from what I've read, Microsoft does NOT want you plugging a keyboard or mouse into the XBox, because it's not a PC. Of course, Unreal for PS2 supports any generic USB mouse and keyboard....
If Microsoft remains adamant about this no keyboard/mouse thing, I can't see online gaming becoming popular at all. You'd think they would have learned this lesson from WebTV...
Re:your statements don't work
on
XBox Released
·
· Score: 1
Yes, it's the games that make a console - but more specifically, it's going to be the games that people actually want to play that make the console.
Yeah, Halo looks nifty, but it's just another FPS. Personally, I'm sick of FPS. Furthermore, Halo for XBox lacks network/online gaming support - something that the PC/Mac version *will* include.
The Oddworld series never grabbed me - regardless of which platform it appeared on.
Dead Or Alive 3, I guarantee will appear on another console (look at Dead Or Alive 2, which was "Dreamcast only" until it came out for PS2.)
Looking into XBox's future a bit, I still don't see the need to buy this system. Tony Hawk2x, SSX Tricky, Tony Hawk 3, Silent Hill2 Director's Cut, and Metal Gear Solid X, are *all* remakes or ports of existing games. In addition, things like SSX Tricky and Tony Hawk 3 will appear on Game Cube as well as PS2.
While I don't think XBox will be a spectacular failure, I don't expect it to be a major force in this generation of consoles, given the current announced lineup.
I agree that 30GB is too small... but I don't see a reason to put RAID or a backup system inside it.
The MP3s you're playing are already "backed up" on CD, right?
As for video...I'm not quite clear on how the ZapStation deals with this...
At any rate, losing the HD would be the sort of thing that's covered by the warranty (this thing *does* have a warranty...right?) While it would suck, it shouldn't result in a catastrohic loss of data.
I like your idea of a simple, small set-top box which would access a server elsewhere. The purpose of this thing would basically be to provide an elegant interface to the content on my server, and stream my selection to my location (be it video, audio, etc.) Unfortunatly, I don't have cat5 running through my house:(
Nothing personal, but the website really needs to be worked over. Needs *much* more information - especially since the price point puts this into the area of high-end A/V-philes, who are going to demand much more than vague mentions of "ZapChannels."
It's a DVD player that doesn't do component video. Even $100 DVD players have these. Even my PS2 has these - and it's supposed to be a *horrible* DVD player. Serious A/V-philes won't be using this feature. Yeah, it does SVGA, but again, this is a set-top box. I don't see myself connecting this to my PC, much less to a LCD projector.
It's got some vague TV Guide features...but apparentally can't be used as a PVR. It claims you can "navigate ZapStation's channels..." but doesn't explain what this means. Does ZapStation have a tuner in it so you can use it with your existing cable system? What if you have satellite or an external cable box? Meanwhile, you can buy a DVR - which comes with a detailed guide service - from a variety of companies. (My personal favorite is Tivo.)
It's a WebTV-like device, but doesn't support the lowly analog modem, so you either need broadband, or you need to rig your PC to share the modem.
It doesn't (appear to, anyways) support VCDs, MP3 CD(R/RW)s. Again, many $100 DVD players do this already. (to say nothing of PC-based players...)
It only comes with a 30GB drive. Yeah, that's a lot of MP3s...but 30GB is nothing if you want to record video.
I know many are saying "...but I can build a PC to do this for $700..." but that's not what this is supposed to be. It's supposed to be an all-in-one appliance, so you pay for the convience of being able to take this thing out of the box, turn it on, and have it work. This is the same reason people buy toasters, instead of building their own.
Even as an all-in-one integrated appliance, it still fails miserably. You can buy existing products which exceed each function the ZapStation. For around $150, you can get a DVD player that supports component video, digital audio, MP3, VCD, CDR, CDRW. For another $300 you can get a Tivo (even without the extra service fees, this will be more usefull than ZapStation.) For another $300-700 you can get a stereo component MP3 player, which either streams from your existing PC, or stores the tracks locally.
The point of an all-in-one appliance is that you save money due to the integration. However, for $700-1200, you more than replicate the ZapStation's feature set - FOR LESS.
I didn't see any information on what inputs or outputs this thing supports.
How do you get the files onto the device? Does it use firewire or USB and show up as a removable storage device under your OS (Windows/MacOS/etc) Can you rip a CD directly on the device, like that product we heard about from HP a few days ago?
The power from the USB connection might not be
enough to power the drive - then again, it's a
microdrive, so this may not be true.
Also, my understanding of the iPod is that it's
simply a small firewire drive with an MP3 player
glued on top of it. You don't need any special
drivers so long as your computer can use firewire devices. Just plug it in, and your computer should just recognize the iPod as an removable hard drive. You also don't have to use the iTunes software package either. Just drag/drop MP3s and folders to the iPod.
In short - it is PC compatible, so long as your PC can use firewire devices.
BTW it's already CA state law that all commercial communications must include "ADV" in the subject line, provide a working remove mechanism, and a real email and snail-mail address.
Over 99% of the spam I get fails to even use a real return address. What makes you think making this a law in the US will have any effect on the spammers in China?
I have this image of someone holding the controller with both hands then realizing they need to type something, so they mash their face against the keyboard.
I can see it now:
Player A: Let's team up, what do you say?
Player B: dse 3 nma w54dgem8eyu
Player A: Hey, buddy, this is an ENGLISH server!
If the RIAA tries to DOS me, they'll be DOS-ing my ISP (a baby bell.)
If the RIAA tries to DOS some college student, they'll be DOS-ing that college.
Likewise, the RIAA is connected to the internet via some ISP, and I don't know of a single ISP that doesn't have a rule/contract clause/etc. against launching DOS attacks (or other forms of network abuse.)
Even if directed at a single IP#, the attack is still interfering with the normal operation of that network to which that IP# belongs.
Apparentally no one told the RIAA that two wrongs do not make a right.
The number of hours usually reflects the capacity with the higest compression turned on - like recording at EP speed on your traditional VCR.
Stand alone Tivo units have other settings for quality, so your "30 hour Tivo" does:
30 hours at "basic"
~19 hours at "medium"
~15 hours at "high"
~10 hours at "best"
"medium" is about VHS SP quality in my opinion.
I recentally upgraded my Tivo to have a total of 160 GB across two disks. This gives me over 195 hours at "basic"...however I now record everything at "high" or "best." (even at "best", I have over 55 hours of storage.)
Supposedly 2.5 for standalone Tivos will also include variable bit rate encoding, which might boost your storage capacities a bit. 2.5 isn't out yet for standalone units.
DirecTivo units don't need to compress the signal - they simply record the raw digital signal you get off your dish. So they record everything in "best".
I don't have "serious audio hardware" in my car. It's a car, for crying out loud.
The Neo25 sounds good enough in my car, or with my headphones at work.
I know it's not intended to be an audiophile's wet dream of audio reproductive equipment - but that's OK. It's quality is "good enough" for the amount of money I paid for it.
Even if I spent $1000 for the empeg, I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference between it and my Neo25 player using my existing speakers.
This is part of what I call the "Good Enough" philosphy.
I bought a similar device earlier this year for
$300 from CompGeeks called the Neo-25. This one came with a 10GB hard drive, but you can also just buy the enclosure for $180, and then use any laptop HD you want.
The Neo-25 is basically a portable USB HD that can also play MP3 files. The filesystem is Windows' FAT32. The MP3 player will play MP3s, play lists, or entire directories.
While it doesn't mount into your dash like the RioCar, it's much, much cheaper. Using standard CD player accessories, you can plug it into your car's cigarette lighter and stereo tape deck and voila...a cheap reliable car player that's upgradeable, and very portable.
Even in stores I see 6GB players for $500, which are about the same size as a medium-sized walkman.
>> I think the best bet is to require -- by law --
>> some sort of "unsolicited mail" indicator on
>> e-mail messages. Then, if an anonymous user
>> sends unsolicited SPAM without the indicator,
>> authorities can demand that whatever gateway
>> allowed them to be anonymous reveal the
>> identity.
Some states (CA and WA) already have a law that says that spam must put "ADV" in the headers, as well as include a postal address, phone number, and a working "list removal" scheme.
Guess what? Most of the spam I get *still* doesn't have "ADV" in the headers, doesn't have a (valid) phone number or postal address, and surely doesn't have a working "remove" scheme.
Marking spam with "adv", "ad" or whatever isn't going to be effective. Why?
* Everyone will immediatly filter on the tag - rendering spam ineffective.
* Spammers won't use the tag anyways - as they're so often saying "This is not spam."
Then there's the problem of what to do if someone does break the law. What do you do to them? Toss them in prison? (yeah, I wish...but do you know how much it would cost to prosecute?) Fine them? (yeah...as if... most folks who spam don't have any money anyways - why else would they spam?)
Legislation is nice to think about, but I think we can largely control the problem by making the internet an uncomfortable place to be for spammers. Strict "no-spam" contracts from ISPs, and fast responses to complaints will make spamming such an unprofitable activity that folks won't bother anymore.
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You mean those things which contain colored gel which shows you if the box was ever tipped the wrong way or dropped? I've seen those on large boxes as well.
Problem with those is they only record 1 event.
It'd be nice to be able to see the abuses over time vs. where the package was located.
Darnit...that's what I was going to say :)
It would be pretty funny to ship an activated blackbox through UPS though... IIRC, those things also have accelerometers as well, which would be useful to recording abuse.
While I've had UPS leave large, conspicuous computer boxes on the porch, they *refuse* to leave my hosuemate's Amazon purchases. Computer - $1000. Amazon shipment - $15. I don't get it.
BTW, when I called UPS about them leaving a computer on my porch with a sticker that said "ADULT SIGNATURE REQUIRED", their response was that the driver signed for the package. When I asked them why they couldn't leave the Amazon box on my porch, they said I had to sign for it.
Go figure... UPS sucks.
I've gotten boxes from UPS that have had tire tracks on them.
The 1U server packed in dense foam (same packaging we use to ship stuff all over the world) didn't stand a chance. The case was completely crushed in the center.
I've had a few really bad experiences with UPS...
At a previous company, we ordered one of those metal cabinets. The cabinet came unassembled, unfortunatly the box sported a wide dusty tire track that we later found out belonged to a forklift... The cabinet company ended up shipping us another one, because we couldn't get the holes to match (I wonder why...)
At my current company, we make 1U servers. One day our RMA department received one of our boxes from a customer who refused to accept it from UPS. The shipping box sported a truck tire track(!) and was bent at an odd angle. Apparentally, the box had fallen off an UPS truck, and was run over by the truck behind it. The UPS driver retrieved the box and delivered it anyways. The case was crushed. We had to saw the screw heads off, and use a crowbar to get the case off. The mainboard was bent, though only a few capacitors had popped off. The powersupply was crushed, we didn't dare plug it in. The hard drive was bent(!), as were the DIMMS (looked like a frowning mouth.) We had UPS pay for a new server, and shipping via FedEx to the customer. I wish we'd taken pictures of that thing....
I avoid UPS as much as I can. I've never had a problem with the US Postal Service or FedEx.
Regarding the symbols on the buttons...
This makes sense to me, from an internationalization point of view. Not everyone is going to be able to recognize "A" - especially if your native written language doesn't use letters.
However, even a 3 year old will know what a circle, square, triangle, and cross are - even if they use different words for them.
Actuall, from what I've read, Microsoft does NOT want you plugging a keyboard or mouse into the XBox, because it's not a PC. Of course, Unreal for PS2 supports any generic USB mouse and keyboard....
If Microsoft remains adamant about this no keyboard/mouse thing, I can't see online gaming becoming popular at all. You'd think they would have learned this lesson from WebTV...
Yes, it's the games that make a console - but more specifically, it's going to be the games that people actually want to play that make the console.
Yeah, Halo looks nifty, but it's just another FPS. Personally, I'm sick of FPS. Furthermore, Halo for XBox lacks network/online gaming support - something that the PC/Mac version *will* include.
The Oddworld series never grabbed me - regardless of which platform it appeared on.
Dead Or Alive 3, I guarantee will appear on another console (look at Dead Or Alive 2, which was "Dreamcast only" until it came out for PS2.)
Looking into XBox's future a bit, I still don't see the need to buy this system. Tony Hawk2x, SSX Tricky, Tony Hawk 3, Silent Hill2 Director's Cut, and Metal Gear Solid X, are *all* remakes or ports of existing games. In addition, things like SSX Tricky and Tony Hawk 3 will appear on Game Cube as well as PS2.
While I don't think XBox will be a spectacular failure, I don't expect it to be a major force in this generation of consoles, given the current announced lineup.
I agree that 30GB is too small... but I don't see a reason to put RAID or a backup system inside it.
:(
The MP3s you're playing are already "backed up" on CD, right?
As for video...I'm not quite clear on how the ZapStation deals with this...
At any rate, losing the HD would be the sort of thing that's covered by the warranty (this thing *does* have a warranty...right?) While it would suck, it shouldn't result in a catastrohic loss of data.
I like your idea of a simple, small set-top box which would access a server elsewhere. The purpose of this thing would basically be to provide an elegant interface to the content on my server, and stream my selection to my location (be it video, audio, etc.) Unfortunatly, I don't have cat5 running through my house
Ah, well, that's something at least.
Nothing personal, but the website really needs to be worked over. Needs *much* more information - especially since the price point puts this into the area of high-end A/V-philes, who are going to demand much more than vague mentions of "ZapChannels."
So, let me get this straight...
It's a DVD player that doesn't do component video. Even $100 DVD players have these. Even my PS2 has these - and it's supposed to be a *horrible* DVD player. Serious A/V-philes won't be using this feature. Yeah, it does SVGA, but again, this is a set-top box. I don't see myself connecting this to my PC, much less to a LCD projector.
It's got some vague TV Guide features...but apparentally can't be used as a PVR. It claims you can "navigate ZapStation's channels..." but doesn't explain what this means. Does ZapStation have a tuner in it so you can use it with your existing cable system? What if you have satellite or an external cable box? Meanwhile, you can buy a DVR - which comes with a detailed guide service - from a variety of companies. (My personal favorite is Tivo.)
It's a WebTV-like device, but doesn't support the lowly analog modem, so you either need broadband, or you need to rig your PC to share the modem.
It doesn't (appear to, anyways) support VCDs, MP3 CD(R/RW)s. Again, many $100 DVD players do this already. (to say nothing of PC-based players...)
It only comes with a 30GB drive. Yeah, that's a lot of MP3s...but 30GB is nothing if you want to record video.
I know many are saying "...but I can build a PC to do this for $700..." but that's not what this is supposed to be. It's supposed to be an all-in-one appliance, so you pay for the convience of being able to take this thing out of the box, turn it on, and have it work. This is the same reason people buy toasters, instead of building their own.
Even as an all-in-one integrated appliance, it still fails miserably. You can buy existing products which exceed each function the ZapStation. For around $150, you can get a DVD player that supports component video, digital audio, MP3, VCD, CDR, CDRW. For another $300 you can get a Tivo (even without the extra service fees, this will be more usefull than ZapStation.) For another $300-700 you can get a stereo component MP3 player, which either streams from your existing PC, or stores the tracks locally.
The point of an all-in-one appliance is that you save money due to the integration. However, for $700-1200, you more than replicate the ZapStation's feature set - FOR LESS.
I didn't see any information on what inputs or outputs this thing supports.
How do you get the files onto the device? Does it use firewire or USB and show up as a removable storage device under your OS (Windows/MacOS/etc) Can you rip a CD directly on the device, like that product we heard about from HP a few days ago?
The power from the USB connection might not be
enough to power the drive - then again, it's a
microdrive, so this may not be true.
Also, my understanding of the iPod is that it's
simply a small firewire drive with an MP3 player
glued on top of it. You don't need any special
drivers so long as your computer can use firewire devices. Just plug it in, and your computer should just recognize the iPod as an removable hard drive. You also don't have to use the iTunes software package either. Just drag/drop MP3s and folders to the iPod.
In short - it is PC compatible, so long as your PC can use firewire devices.
I don't think XBox is a PS2 killer.
* Many of the games for XBox are ports of games that existed on the PS1 or the PS2.
* Many of the games for XBox will show up for the PS2.
* XBox still has weak support from Japanese developers.
While I'm not entirely convinced XBox will be an utter flop, I don't think it's going to be a big player. At least not this time around.
Hey, watch it!
I know you didn't have anything to do with your score. The question was to the moderators - not the poster (you.)
It may be XBox only for now, but considering DOA2, I expect that we'll be seeing DOA3 on PS2 and maybe Gamecube down the road.
(btw, why was this parent marked as 'funny'?)
Oh, yeah, that'll be effective...
BTW it's already CA state law that all commercial communications must include "ADV" in the subject line, provide a working remove mechanism, and a real email and snail-mail address.
Over 99% of the spam I get fails to even use a real return address. What makes you think making this a law in the US will have any effect on the spammers in China?
That's definitely NOT true.
My ISP used to be a customer of Above.net, yet I still got tons of spam from sites that were on the MAPS RBL.
Forehead, acutally...
I have this image of someone holding the controller with both hands then realizing they need to type something, so they mash their face against the keyboard.
I can see it now:
Player A: Let's team up, what do you say?
Player B: dse 3 nma w54dgem8eyu
Player A: Hey, buddy, this is an ENGLISH server!
Hrm...good question.
:/
:)
I misread your original comment and thought you said that it *wasn't illegal* for someone to attack an individual.
Regardless, my comment got marked with a "3". I'm not sure how to feel about this
Let's just chalk it up to a supporting argument
How do you figure?
If the RIAA tries to DOS me, they'll be DOS-ing my ISP (a baby bell.)
If the RIAA tries to DOS some college student, they'll be DOS-ing that college.
Likewise, the RIAA is connected to the internet via some ISP, and I don't know of a single ISP that doesn't have a rule/contract clause/etc. against launching DOS attacks (or other forms of network abuse.)
Even if directed at a single IP#, the attack is still interfering with the normal operation of that network to which that IP# belongs.
Apparentally no one told the RIAA that two wrongs do not make a right.
The number of hours usually reflects the capacity with the higest compression turned on - like recording at EP speed on your traditional VCR.
Stand alone Tivo units have other settings for quality, so your "30 hour Tivo" does:
30 hours at "basic"
~19 hours at "medium"
~15 hours at "high"
~10 hours at "best"
"medium" is about VHS SP quality in my opinion.
I recentally upgraded my Tivo to have a total of 160 GB across two disks. This gives me over 195 hours at "basic"...however I now record everything at "high" or "best." (even at "best", I have over 55 hours of storage.)
Supposedly 2.5 for standalone Tivos will also include variable bit rate encoding, which might boost your storage capacities a bit. 2.5 isn't out yet for standalone units.
DirecTivo units don't need to compress the signal - they simply record the raw digital signal you get off your dish. So they record everything in "best".
Well, that's the difference then...
I don't have "serious audio hardware" in my car. It's a car, for crying out loud.
The Neo25 sounds good enough in my car, or with my headphones at work.
I know it's not intended to be an audiophile's wet dream of audio reproductive equipment - but that's OK. It's quality is "good enough" for the amount of money I paid for it.
Even if I spent $1000 for the empeg, I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference between it and my Neo25 player using my existing speakers.
This is part of what I call the "Good Enough" philosphy.
Price surely did this in.
I bought a similar device earlier this year for
$300 from CompGeeks called the Neo-25. This one came with a 10GB hard drive, but you can also just buy the enclosure for $180, and then use any laptop HD you want.
The Neo-25 is basically a portable USB HD that can also play MP3 files. The filesystem is Windows' FAT32. The MP3 player will play MP3s, play lists, or entire directories.
While it doesn't mount into your dash like the RioCar, it's much, much cheaper. Using standard CD player accessories, you can plug it into your car's cigarette lighter and stereo tape deck and voila...a cheap reliable car player that's upgradeable, and very portable.
Even in stores I see 6GB players for $500, which are about the same size as a medium-sized walkman.
$1000 is just way, way too much.
>> I think the best bet is to require -- by law --
>> some sort of "unsolicited mail" indicator on
>> e-mail messages. Then, if an anonymous user
>> sends unsolicited SPAM without the indicator,
>> authorities can demand that whatever gateway
>> allowed them to be anonymous reveal the
>> identity.
Some states (CA and WA) already have a law that says that spam must put "ADV" in the headers, as well as include a postal address, phone number, and a working "list removal" scheme.
Guess what? Most of the spam I get *still* doesn't have "ADV" in the headers, doesn't have a (valid) phone number or postal address, and surely doesn't have a working "remove" scheme.
Marking spam with "adv", "ad" or whatever isn't going to be effective. Why?
* Everyone will immediatly filter on the tag - rendering spam ineffective.
* Spammers won't use the tag anyways - as they're so often saying "This is not spam."
Then there's the problem of what to do if someone does break the law. What do you do to them? Toss them in prison? (yeah, I wish...but do you know how much it would cost to prosecute?) Fine them? (yeah...as if... most folks who spam don't have any money anyways - why else would they spam?)
Legislation is nice to think about, but I think we can largely control the problem by making the internet an uncomfortable place to be for spammers. Strict "no-spam" contracts from ISPs, and fast responses to complaints will make spamming such an unprofitable activity that folks won't bother anymore.