The basic premise that you need to examine every contract with a magnifying glass is the problem.
You shouldn't have to constantly be on guard that some company will attempt to screw you through their contract terms.
And for what it's worth, next time I rent a car, I'm going to check it over for stealth GPS monitoring systems. If I find it, I'll be cracking out some tinfoil (which completely blocks GPS signals on my receiver).
Really... That's the problem. We understand stuff, we read/. we can fix/modify cars, computers, electronics, and many other types of high-tech devices.
Most consumers can't.
Most consumers are content to sit in front of a TV with a green picture because they don't want to adjust the tint in the setup menu.
Just remember when designing hardware or software:
1. Take the dumbest user you can think of.
2. Assume they are 1/2 as intelligent as you just give them credit for being.
3. Assume they have no troubleshooting or problem-solving skills (this assumption will be proven correct).
4. Assume they have the attention span of a hamster when reading manuals (this will also be correct).
5. When programming error handling routines, design the software to handle evey conceivable WRONG choice first before a correct choice. I mean, things happen that way in the field.
6. Give product to consumer. Take phone off hook & make self very, very unavailable for a few months. I suggest a long vacation in foreign lands. Do not take a cell phone.:)
I used to work at a facility that had a C-Band uplink for live programming. The satellite operators regularly left our signal up after I signed off the transmission.
I took the opportunity once to plug my playstation into the uplink (shortly after the PS1 was released) and broadcasted my (poor) gaming technique across north america for a while:P
Nothing illegal though - For all I know the guys in the operations center were watching my game;P I was more worried about them sending us a bill than the cops showing up.
It's still very cool to be able to punch out a signal 30,000km into space and back. It's even more cool when that signal is your new videogame system:)
Interesting, but...
on
MP3 for Gameboy
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
It's going to do the same thing as MP3 players for Palm units I'd imagine. All the processing and hardware will be offboard and the only thing the gameboy will provide is the interface.
I can't see that it's any great advantage over a standalone MP3 player - the majority of the price point of portable players seems to be the amount of memory included which is hard to work around, no matter which platform you're on.
Small standalone players like the Samsung YEPP are tiny, can run for hours on one AAA battery, and are slowly decreasing in price.
- Users doing anything on their computer that requires bandwidth costs you money. - Users running servers costs you money. - Users running servers that serve MP3s or movies costs you LOTs of money (lots of bandwidth), and could open you up to legal issues. - Users who telecommute should be able to "afford" to buy a business package for home. After all, if they lead such a wonderful life as to be able to work from home, then they SHOULD pay extra to us! - Users who run servers or share internet connections bother tech support.
Solution? Deny all servers.
If possible, deny anything that users may do other than web surfing and email. No telecommuting here!
Infact, if it's possible to bill users without providing ANY service, that's the way to go!
It would make car repairs so much easier... Which is exactly WHY the dealerships and manufacturers don't want any part of it. When your car starts breaking down a lot you either bring it to the dealership who has the only tool out to read the diagnostic info (dealership wins), or you buy a new car (SOME manufacturer wins).
I mean, if the manufacturers wanted to, it would be easy enough to put a text readout in the dashboard that would say "engine airflow sensor failure" or something similar. Even an error code that you could look up in the manual would be decent.
When I buy a new car, part of my shopping checklist will be to see if I can get a (most likely) 3rd party diagnostic plugin tool.
If more buyers demand onboard diagnostics to be usable by owners without expensive dealership computers, it might start forcing manufacturers to make the information easily accessible.
Reminds me of Harry Harrison's "Deathworld" trilogy (part 2). Give the buyers of the vehicles (in that case, steam wagons), the bare minimum of information to make servicing/repairing them impossible. At least the manufacturers aren't sealing the hoods and putting mustard gas inside to prevent repairs (yet).
Have a LCD touch-panel that plugs in via USB to your PC. Not an incredibly high refresh rate, but it appears to work quite well.
I'm thinking about mounting one in my car hooked into a custom PC stowed away in the trunk. Would make a nice MP3 player and probably could view DiVXs and such through it.
A bit expensive, but not too bad. Only two cables needed - USB & Power.
I clocked my usage and with moderate file trading with some friends, it worked out to around 5-6gb of total transfers over a long weekend. My usual transfer would be somewhat less than this.
I'd estimate I use 30gb-ish per month. Which isn't a lot imho. I'd probably be willing to pay up to around $60-80/month cdn to keep that level of service. Any more and I'd just start using my connection at work (unrestricted and free) to get large downloads.
The problem here is that it's generally known that MS isn't making any money on the X-Box and is probably selling below cost to compete with other platforms.
People buying the units just to play movies on is NOT going to generate any additional revenue for MS. They make the money on the games.
Agreed - I have a reasonable UPS on my machine at work (out of my pocket) and my machine at home. Both will run the machine for anywhere from 10 minutes (home) to an hour (work).
I really don't care about running my machine when the power goes out, I just don't want it to fry, want to survive power bumps without losing my work, and let things auto-shutdown when the battery gets low.
Some guys doing construction near my office apparently hooked their arc welder into a common power panel, and the UPS was going nuts clicking on/off every few seconds... But nothing happened to my PC because of it. Other people had assorted lockups, etc.
Well, I've used about 1.5gb over the weekend... Which includes downloading some videos (Invader ZIM!!!), playing some online games, sending the aforementioned ZIM videos to some friends of mine, as well as the usual timewasting on/., fark, and numerous other websites.
I'd figure that I'd use an average of 4gb per week (bidirectional), so around 16-20gb per month would suit me just fine.
Of course, the summer is coming up too, and I plan on doing a lot of BBQing, and a lot of online gaming to wind down after a long year of teaching.
Still, I think I could manage in 20gb/month. 5-10gb? You gotta be kidding. And I want my 20gb bidirectional totals, not 5gb one way and 1gb the other way or something screwball like that.
I'd go up to around $70/month for 20gb/month of bandwidth I suppose. That should easily pay for the service providers cost and allow them some room for profit.
Of course, I have a T3 at work that I run servers and such on, so I always have a fallback if need be, but I hope I won't need it...
Off-topic, however I too found the link quite interesting...
Of course, it did contain it's usual fair share of Greenpeace nutters and people with too much free time on their hands (professional protesters), but it was fairly nice to see the small guy do well in court.
Fact of the matter is though, that the whole deal was basically a small bump in the road for McDonald's. Sure, the protesters and court case was a pain in the butt for McD, but I think it is best summed up where in the article, they wrote:
But things were going well for the Corporation too: in April they announced that "systemwide sales exceeded $30 billion for the first time, and net income crossed the $1.5 billion threshold".
And it makes me think that while sure, the smalltimers may have had a win on their side, inspite of everything, McD's made record profits... Which strikes me as the real win...
So to bring it back on-topic, yes, the small guy may have the occasional win in court, but the big company with the big bucks will usually win in the end due to the way the system is designed.
Re: This Guy Is Directing "Terminator 3"...
on
Review: U-571
·
· Score: 1
I know nothing about the plot of T3 except that there's a female terminator...
I know that James Cameron isn't directing it.
I guess that it will probably suck because he's not directing it.
NOTICE the older-than-time, uppercrust DC politicians who are close to retirement, and need to pad their pockets with as much industry money as possible ("we'll pass ANYTHING for a price!").
SEE the big copyright holders wining and dining the aforementioned old politicians. Booze 'em up, then get them on board when they're tipsy.
EXPERIENCE the complete lack of anyone who has any opposing viewpoints.
Now, just for the record, I DO approve of copyright laws. That said, there NEEDS to be a fair use policy that allows users/owners to space/timeshift their information. Move it from DVD to HD to portable player without any restrictions other than making illegal copies.
The length of copyright terms needs to come WAY down if the studios/publishers want the kinds of control they are asking for.
Sure, make it an iron-clad copyright to protect all content without any space/timeshifting rights if you want - but if you, as a studio, DO want these rights, your copyright term drops to an absolute MAXIMUM of 5 years, after which it's opened up wide for all to see/shift/transfer as people see fit..
We did something like this for a video production company I worked for years ago. A bunch of new racks were purchased to be installed at the very top of a building - 2 flights of narrow stairs with tight corners ABOVE the highest floor the elevator would reach.
I suggested that they winch the racks up the side of the building... Then I promptly departed as fast as I possibly could:P
They DID manage to get them into the top of the building, but judging from the evil looks I got when I visited the site a few days later, my offhand thought cost them a fair amount of sweat and cursing.
Of course, in my defense, it was THEM who decided NOT to use any sort of block & tackle, or anything else that would've given them a mechanical advantage, and just got "some of the boys" to haul on the rope over the side of the building.
I suspect they were wise enough not to have someone standing below:P
When you see a note from the site admin _before_ it gets slashdotted saying "things are getting faster so we're accepting posts again", THEN you get/.'ed, you know the server is in deep trouble.
Slashdot Mirror
I submitted this link too...
:)
But I also mirrored the picture
N.
I'd drink DarthCoke ;P
Yes, well... Steve Jobs is a turd.
I had the utmost respect for Apple when Woz was still a part of the biz and was simply making really COOL hardware for us to use and abuse.
Steve Jobs is a turd dressed in a suit. And is the reason I'll never purchase an Apple product as long as he's involved with the company.
Think Different!
Think Lawyers!
Think Blacklist!
Think maybe Apple was portraying THEMSELVES in their classic "1984" commercial...
The basic premise that you need to examine every contract with a magnifying glass is the problem.
You shouldn't have to constantly be on guard that some company will attempt to screw you through their contract terms.
And for what it's worth, next time I rent a car, I'm going to check it over for stealth GPS monitoring systems. If I find it, I'll be cracking out some tinfoil (which completely blocks GPS signals on my receiver).
If they don't like it, that's just too damn bad.
Ah yes, but it can only go for 30 sec before needing service.
;P
Fix Or Repair Daily is now Fix or Repair Constantly
Really... That's the problem. We understand stuff, we read /. we can fix/modify cars, computers, electronics, and many other types of high-tech devices.
:)
Most consumers can't.
Most consumers are content to sit in front of a TV with a green picture because they don't want to adjust the tint in the setup menu.
Just remember when designing hardware or software:
1. Take the dumbest user you can think of.
2. Assume they are 1/2 as intelligent as you just give them credit for being.
3. Assume they have no troubleshooting or problem-solving skills (this assumption will be proven correct).
4. Assume they have the attention span of a hamster when reading manuals (this will also be correct).
5. When programming error handling routines, design the software to handle evey conceivable WRONG choice first before a correct choice. I mean, things happen that way in the field.
6. Give product to consumer. Take phone off hook & make self very, very unavailable for a few months. I suggest a long vacation in foreign lands. Do not take a cell phone.
I used to work at a facility that had a C-Band uplink for live programming. The satellite operators regularly left our signal up after I signed off the transmission.
:P
;P I was more worried about them sending us a bill than the cops showing up.
:)
I took the opportunity once to plug my playstation into the uplink (shortly after the PS1 was released) and broadcasted my (poor) gaming technique across north america for a while
Nothing illegal though - For all I know the guys in the operations center were watching my game
It's still very cool to be able to punch out a signal 30,000km into space and back. It's even more cool when that signal is your new videogame system
It's going to do the same thing as MP3 players for Palm units I'd imagine. All the processing and hardware will be offboard and the only thing the gameboy will provide is the interface.
I can't see that it's any great advantage over a standalone MP3 player - the majority of the price point of portable players seems to be the amount of memory included which is hard to work around, no matter which platform you're on.
Small standalone players like the Samsung YEPP are tiny, can run for hours on one AAA battery, and are slowly decreasing in price.
Just remember the following...
Try to think as if you're an ISP:
- Users doing anything on their computer that requires bandwidth costs you money.
- Users running servers costs you money.
- Users running servers that serve MP3s or movies costs you LOTs of money (lots of bandwidth), and could open you up to legal issues.
- Users who telecommute should be able to "afford" to buy a business package for home. After all, if they lead such a wonderful life as to be able to work from home, then they SHOULD pay extra to us!
- Users who run servers or share internet connections bother tech support.
Solution? Deny all servers.
If possible, deny anything that users may do other than web surfing and email. No telecommuting here!
Infact, if it's possible to bill users without providing ANY service, that's the way to go!
It would make car repairs so much easier... Which is exactly WHY the dealerships and manufacturers don't want any part of it. When your car starts breaking down a lot you either bring it to the dealership who has the only tool out to read the diagnostic info (dealership wins), or you buy a new car (SOME manufacturer wins).
I mean, if the manufacturers wanted to, it would be easy enough to put a text readout in the dashboard that would say "engine airflow sensor failure" or something similar. Even an error code that you could look up in the manual would be decent.
When I buy a new car, part of my shopping checklist will be to see if I can get a (most likely) 3rd party diagnostic plugin tool.
If more buyers demand onboard diagnostics to be usable by owners without expensive dealership computers, it might start forcing manufacturers to make the information easily accessible.
Reminds me of Harry Harrison's "Deathworld" trilogy (part 2). Give the buyers of the vehicles (in that case, steam wagons), the bare minimum of information to make servicing/repairing them impossible. At least the manufacturers aren't sealing the hoods and putting mustard gas inside to prevent repairs (yet).
These guys:
Massworks
Have a LCD touch-panel that plugs in via USB to your PC. Not an incredibly high refresh rate, but it appears to work quite well.
I'm thinking about mounting one in my car hooked into a custom PC stowed away in the trunk. Would make a nice MP3 player and probably could view DiVXs and such through it.
A bit expensive, but not too bad. Only two cables needed - USB & Power.
Suicide bombers don't usually need to tell other people when they're gonna blow themselves up.
:)
All this will do is annoy law abiding citizens who want to use their own phones.
Anyone with "an agenda" is already making other plans to deal with the problem since it was so conveniantly announced in the press.
Typical Canadian government - goose-stepping all over Canadian rights. Somehow I know that Jean Poutine is behind all of it
It's a police-state in the making...
I clocked my usage and with moderate file trading with some friends, it worked out to around 5-6gb of total transfers over a long weekend. My usual transfer would be somewhat less than this.
I'd estimate I use 30gb-ish per month. Which isn't a lot imho. I'd probably be willing to pay up to around $60-80/month cdn to keep that level of service. Any more and I'd just start using my connection at work (unrestricted and free) to get large downloads.
The problem here is that it's generally known that MS isn't making any money on the X-Box and is probably selling below cost to compete with other platforms.
People buying the units just to play movies on is NOT going to generate any additional revenue for MS. They make the money on the games.
Agreed - I have a reasonable UPS on my machine at work (out of my pocket) and my machine at home. Both will run the machine for anywhere from 10 minutes (home) to an hour (work).
I really don't care about running my machine when the power goes out, I just don't want it to fry, want to survive power bumps without losing my work, and let things auto-shutdown when the battery gets low.
Some guys doing construction near my office apparently hooked their arc welder into a common power panel, and the UPS was going nuts clicking on/off every few seconds... But nothing happened to my PC because of it. Other people had assorted lockups, etc.
Well, I've used about 1.5gb over the weekend... Which includes downloading some videos (Invader ZIM!!!), playing some online games, sending the aforementioned ZIM videos to some friends of mine, as well as the usual timewasting on /., fark, and numerous other websites.
I'd figure that I'd use an average of 4gb per week (bidirectional), so around 16-20gb per month would suit me just fine.
Of course, the summer is coming up too, and I plan on doing a lot of BBQing, and a lot of online gaming to wind down after a long year of teaching.
Still, I think I could manage in 20gb/month. 5-10gb? You gotta be kidding. And I want my 20gb bidirectional totals, not 5gb one way and 1gb the other way or something screwball like that.
I'd go up to around $70/month for 20gb/month of bandwidth I suppose. That should easily pay for the service providers cost and allow them some room for profit.
Of course, I have a T3 at work that I run servers and such on, so I always have a fallback if need be, but I hope I won't need it...
The joy of SQL websites...
/.'ed already.
Of course, it did contain it's usual fair share of Greenpeace nutters and people with too much free time on their hands (professional protesters), but it was fairly nice to see the small guy do well in court.
Fact of the matter is though, that the whole deal was basically a small bump in the road for McDonald's. Sure, the protesters and court case was a pain in the butt for McD, but I think it is best summed up where in the article, they wrote:
And it makes me think that while sure, the smalltimers may have had a win on their side, inspite of everything, McD's made record profits... Which strikes me as the real win...
So to bring it back on-topic, yes, the small guy may have the occasional win in court, but the big company with the big bucks will usually win in the end due to the way the system is designed.
I know nothing about the plot of T3 except that there's a female terminator...
I know that James Cameron isn't directing it.
I guess that it will probably suck because he's not directing it.
Time will tell...
Want to know why they lost? I think this link pretty well explains it all:
The DMCA Is the Toast of D.C.
NOTICE the older-than-time, uppercrust DC politicians who are close to retirement, and need to pad their pockets with as much industry money as possible ("we'll pass ANYTHING for a price!").
SEE the big copyright holders wining and dining the aforementioned old politicians. Booze 'em up, then get them on board when they're tipsy.
EXPERIENCE the complete lack of anyone who has any opposing viewpoints.
Now, just for the record, I DO approve of copyright laws. That said, there NEEDS to be a fair use policy that allows users/owners to space/timeshift their information. Move it from DVD to HD to portable player without any restrictions other than making illegal copies.
The length of copyright terms needs to come WAY down if the studios/publishers want the kinds of control they are asking for.
Sure, make it an iron-clad copyright to protect all content without any space/timeshifting rights if you want - but if you, as a studio, DO want these rights, your copyright term drops to an absolute MAXIMUM of 5 years, after which it's opened up wide for all to see/shift/transfer as people see fit..
We did something like this for a video production company I worked for years ago. A bunch of new racks were purchased to be installed at the very top of a building - 2 flights of narrow stairs with tight corners ABOVE the highest floor the elevator would reach.
:P
:P
I suggested that they winch the racks up the side of the building... Then I promptly departed as fast as I possibly could
They DID manage to get them into the top of the building, but judging from the evil looks I got when I visited the site a few days later, my offhand thought cost them a fair amount of sweat and cursing.
Of course, in my defense, it was THEM who decided NOT to use any sort of block & tackle, or anything else that would've given them a mechanical advantage, and just got "some of the boys" to haul on the rope over the side of the building.
I suspect they were wise enough not to have someone standing below
Perhaps its papers were not in order...? :p
Lol...
/.'ed, you know the server is in deep trouble.
When you see a note from the site admin _before_ it gets slashdotted saying "things are getting faster so we're accepting posts again", THEN you get
Because they know NOBODY in their right mind would EVER opt-in to something like this, so they have to open the door to big business somehow.
I mean, otherwise the aforementioned big business would stop paying them campaign contributions and such...