One big reason why worldwide distribution is so hard is that every country has their own ratings system for content and expects content producers to respect that (not release content not approved, only release content rated "adult" to adults etc) The US has the MPAA ratings system (which may be optional but which most studios tend to follow for their content) Australia has the OFLC Germany has the USK The UK has the BBFC Other European countries have their own systems (with all the things the EU has done, why havent they moved to a single system of regulation for content so content producers only need to get the content rated once) And so on
Whats ironic is that back then they jacked up the purchase price to encourage rentals and now they want to block rentals to encourage purchase. Whats changed?
Actually, an automated shopping list system is something I wish someone WOULD invent. If you use up some food and want to remember to buy more next time, you swipe the bar code on a bar code scanner in the kitchen. If you want food that doesn't have a bar code such as fresh produce you just pick it from a list. Same as if you want food that you dont have the package for (thrown out by mistake without scanning it, whatever else)
Then when you are going shopping, you just print the list and take it with you.
Such a system would be great for me, I could instantly make a note anytime I think of food (or non-food items like cleaning products or toilet paper) that I need to buy next time I go shopping. I could make a note anytime I use up the last of some product. And I wouldn't have the problem where I can never remember if I need more of something or not.
The hardest part would be comming up with the database that matches all the bar codes to products and keeping that database up to date.
Putting an 8MP camera sensor in a phone (all of which have small crappy lenses) is like putting a big block V8 in a Toyota Corolla.
I still dont get why they even bother with cellphone cameras. I for one would be just as happy if my phone didnt even come with a camera and I am sure I am not alone.
Internode is only usefull if you happen to be in Australia. And if your customers are there too, that helps (given the high cost of links between.AU and the US)
Have a hardware or BIOS-level password. If you dont have the password, you cant even boot the machine on any medium. Combine this with a screen lock (where the screen will lock if the screensaver/blanker activates) and it should protect things. If the bad guy doesn't have the password, they cant unlock the machine. They cant reboot either due to the
To prevent someone simply opening up the machine and installing a hardware keylogger, fit some sort of sticker that cant easily be forged/replaced and that easily indicates the machine has been opened.
The problem is the large publishers like EA and Activision and Atari (many of which also have in-house development shops) and the fact that said large publishers wont publish anything thats in any way new or different.
What the games industry needs is publishers that are similar to what Fox Searchlight and similar studios are to the movie industry (i.e. someone willing to do smaller indy games).
And we need publishers (and retailers) that realize that not all games need graphics that push a GeForce 9800GT to its limits, audio that is best heard on a 8.2 channel speaker setup and 5-year development times.
There is also often some conflicting issues vis a vis who may sue you. One notable example was the kernel for one of the Motorola EZX linux phones. This kernel contained a driver to support SD memory cards (the phone has a MicroSD slot like many other phones these days do) built into it (and not as a module). Motorola released kernel source for this phone that was missing the SD card driver because the negative outcome of being sued by the SD card association for violating the SD card NDA/license (which may well have meant Motorola being unable to use the SD card spec in future products) was deemed by the lawyers to be MUCH bigger than the negative outcome of not releasing the SD card driver code.
What eventually happened is that the SD card association (at the urging of Motorola and others) released a cut-down version of the specs dealing with the bits kernel drivers would need to deal with, allowing Motorola to release the source in question.
The GPL requires the release of the source as used to build the binaries. If the source code has been modified (no matter what has been done to it), its a GPL violation.
Its about games. And its not just about iPhone or even mobile games, its the fact that there are all sorts of games available to Australians that are currently not being given an OFLC rating (including games for mobile phones).
The government just wants to close a loophole and require games that are not sold in physical form to Australians (i.e. only available as a digital download) to obtain an OFLC rating in order to continue to be available to Australians.
More so than mobile phone games, I want to know what this will mean for free-as-in-open-source games, will those suddenly be illegal now too?
They have already invented a solution to this problem that doesn't block radios, cellphones and GPS. Its called Window Tinting and it seems to work fine in most places on this planet.
It may depend on the box and the provider but a number of cable/sat boxes that I have seen need to be "always on" (i.e. they need to be powered up and receiving signal) so that they can pick up new software updates and possibly also new encryption keys.
The problem here is that once you can replace the OS, it becomes impossible for teachers or exam supervisors to verify that the calculator really HAS been reset or that it really HAS had the special exam feature loaded on it (dont know what its called but it can lock out calculator features).
Because of this, those who set the exams are going to start dropping the hackable TI calculators from the "approved calculators" list.
Ergo TI cant sell overpriced calculators based on obsolete technology to schools/colleges (and students) anymore.
More and more games are using newer DRM (e.g. newer versions of Securom) that lock the game to your hardware instead of requiring the CD (e.g. Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 has such DRM).
The benefit to the publisher with this is that they can produce one version of the game for both digital sale and retail stores and from there only one set of patches.
Actually, in the case of the Australian situation, it is both politics AND religion.
Essentially, in order to introduce a R rating for games, the Attorney Generals of all the states have to agree to it. And in South Australia, we have Michael Atkinson who has continued to oppose the R rating. And aparently (although I cant find a source to back this up), he happens to be a Christian and is opposing this on the grounds of Christian values.
Is there a router with the following: 1.802.11b/g WiFi (N would be a bonus but not essential) 2.Ethernet (dont need Gigabit, 10/100 is fine) 3.ADSL2/2+ support and 4.100% open source software with NO binary blobs for Ethernet, USB, WiFi or DSL
My current router has all those features (except possibly only being ADSL1) but it has binary blobs for the WiFi and DSL.
According to the SAMBA team, Microsoft has actually been fairly open (both in terms of providing docs and in terms of providing info/answers/clarification) when it comes to the protocols SAMBA deals with.
They care because a lot of them also make fancier more expensive routers (Linksys is owned by Cisco for example) and they dont like that open source hackers are adding features to their cheap consumer routers normally only found in big iron routers at 4x the price.
From what I read on another site, Apple are concerned that Woolworths is filing for a broad trademark across multiple markets and may use the logo (or a derivative of it) on products or services closer to those made by Apple in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
except that .net has been used for so many things totally unrelated to network infrastructure (I myself have a .net and its just a small personal site)
One big reason why worldwide distribution is so hard is that every country has their own ratings system for content and expects content producers to respect that (not release content not approved, only release content rated "adult" to adults etc)
The US has the MPAA ratings system (which may be optional but which most studios tend to follow for their content)
Australia has the OFLC
Germany has the USK
The UK has the BBFC
Other European countries have their own systems (with all the things the EU has done, why havent they moved to a single system of regulation for content so content producers only need to get the content rated once)
And so on
How does the ARM JIT compare to using the Jazzelle instructions built into many ARM CPUs nowadays?
Whats ironic is that back then they jacked up the purchase price to encourage rentals and now they want to block rentals to encourage purchase.
Whats changed?
Actually, an automated shopping list system is something I wish someone WOULD invent. If you use up some food and want to remember to buy more next time, you swipe the bar code on a bar code scanner in the kitchen. If you want food that doesn't have a bar code such as fresh produce you just pick it from a list. Same as if you want food that you dont have the package for (thrown out by mistake without scanning it, whatever else)
Then when you are going shopping, you just print the list and take it with you.
Such a system would be great for me, I could instantly make a note anytime I think of food (or non-food items like cleaning products or toilet paper) that I need to buy next time I go shopping. I could make a note anytime I use up the last of some product. And I wouldn't have the problem where I can never remember if I need more of something or not.
The hardest part would be comming up with the database that matches all the bar codes to products and keeping that database up to date.
Putting an 8MP camera sensor in a phone (all of which have small crappy lenses) is like putting a big block V8 in a Toyota Corolla.
I still dont get why they even bother with cellphone cameras. I for one would be just as happy if my phone didnt even come with a camera and I am sure I am not alone.
Internode is only usefull if you happen to be in Australia. .AU and the US)
And if your customers are there too, that helps (given the high cost of links between
Have a hardware or BIOS-level password. If you dont have the password, you cant even boot the machine on any medium. Combine this with a screen lock (where the screen will lock if the screensaver/blanker activates) and it should protect things. If the bad guy doesn't have the password, they cant unlock the machine. They cant reboot either due to the
To prevent someone simply opening up the machine and installing a hardware keylogger, fit some sort of sticker that cant easily be forged/replaced and that easily indicates the machine has been opened.
The problem is the large publishers like EA and Activision and Atari (many of which also have in-house development shops) and the fact that said large publishers wont publish anything thats in any way new or different.
What the games industry needs is publishers that are similar to what Fox Searchlight and similar studios are to the movie industry (i.e. someone willing to do smaller indy games).
And we need publishers (and retailers) that realize that not all games need graphics that push a GeForce 9800GT to its limits, audio that is best heard on a 8.2 channel speaker setup and 5-year development times.
Except that they released the phone anyway and violated the GPL in the process (releasing the code for everything except the SD car driver)
There is also often some conflicting issues vis a vis who may sue you.
One notable example was the kernel for one of the Motorola EZX linux phones. This kernel contained a driver to support SD memory cards (the phone has a MicroSD slot like many other phones these days do) built into it (and not as a module). Motorola released kernel source for this phone that was missing the SD card driver because the negative outcome of being sued by the SD card association for violating the SD card NDA/license (which may well have meant Motorola being unable to use the SD card spec in future products) was deemed by the lawyers to be MUCH bigger than the negative outcome of not releasing the SD card driver code.
What eventually happened is that the SD card association (at the urging of Motorola and others) released a cut-down version of the specs dealing with the bits kernel drivers would need to deal with, allowing Motorola to release the source in question.
The GPL requires the release of the source as used to build the binaries. If the source code has been modified (no matter what has been done to it), its a GPL violation.
Its about games. And its not just about iPhone or even mobile games, its the fact that there are all sorts of games available to Australians that are currently not being given an OFLC rating (including games for mobile phones).
The government just wants to close a loophole and require games that are not sold in physical form to Australians (i.e. only available as a digital download) to obtain an OFLC rating in order to continue to be available to Australians.
More so than mobile phone games, I want to know what this will mean for free-as-in-open-source games, will those suddenly be illegal now too?
They have already invented a solution to this problem that doesn't block radios, cellphones and GPS.
Its called Window Tinting and it seems to work fine in most places on this planet.
It may depend on the box and the provider but a number of cable/sat boxes that I have seen need to be "always on" (i.e. they need to be powered up and receiving signal) so that they can pick up new software updates and possibly also new encryption keys.
The problem here is that once you can replace the OS, it becomes impossible for teachers or exam supervisors to verify that the calculator really HAS been reset or that it really HAS had the special exam feature loaded on it (dont know what its called but it can lock out calculator features).
Because of this, those who set the exams are going to start dropping the hackable TI calculators from the "approved calculators" list.
Ergo TI cant sell overpriced calculators based on obsolete technology to schools/colleges (and students) anymore.
More and more games are using newer DRM (e.g. newer versions of Securom) that lock the game to your hardware instead of requiring the CD (e.g. Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 has such DRM).
The benefit to the publisher with this is that they can produce one version of the game for both digital sale and retail stores and from there only one set of patches.
Actually, in the case of the Australian situation, it is both politics AND religion.
Essentially, in order to introduce a R rating for games, the Attorney Generals of all the states have to agree to it. And in South Australia, we have Michael Atkinson who has continued to oppose the R rating. And aparently (although I cant find a source to back this up), he happens to be a Christian and is opposing this on the grounds of Christian values.
Is there a router with the following:
1.802.11b/g WiFi (N would be a bonus but not essential)
2.Ethernet (dont need Gigabit, 10/100 is fine)
3.ADSL2/2+ support
and 4.100% open source software with NO binary blobs for Ethernet, USB, WiFi or DSL
My current router has all those features (except possibly only being ADSL1) but it has binary blobs for the WiFi and DSL.
If its a brand new 360, it will already have the latest not-yet-hackable firmware on it.
According to the SAMBA team, Microsoft has actually been fairly open (both in terms of providing docs and in terms of providing info/answers/clarification) when it comes to the protocols SAMBA deals with.
They care because a lot of them also make fancier more expensive routers (Linksys is owned by Cisco for example) and they dont like that open source hackers are adding features to their cheap consumer routers normally only found in big iron routers at 4x the price.
WRONG. Woolworths is 100% Australian and is listed on the ASX. It has no ownership connection to any foriegn company named Woolworths.
Also, the Big W chain has no connection to Wal-Mart (despite rumors to the contrary)
From what I read on another site, Apple are concerned that Woolworths is filing for a broad trademark across multiple markets and may use the logo (or a derivative of it) on products or services closer to those made by Apple in the future.
Electric cars should have the noise of cars.