This is a great start, but I'd like to see them backport the KB/Mouse to their older games as well. I've always been a PC gamer, but this is step in the right direction. They could port it to Portal 2 with a Software patch, and I'd be a happy guy.
If more companies did this, the PS3 would be an obvious buy for me.. I also like the openness Sony's had with their PSN, and I like that I can buy Portal 2 for PS3, and get a Steam version for free.
Sony is a bunch of asshats in lots of areas, but they're doing OK on this part.
I GREATLY prefer to buy games through Steam, and will often pay a premium to do so. It gives me the convenience of being able to download it on any PC I go to; It's in my list, along with every other game. I don't need to store the DMG or ISO, and go through a manual install process. It's all there, in one place, easy as pie, and ready to move across systems.
If you look at his examples, his primary argument is that you can cram more information on the screen because of the iPhone's high resolution. I can't agree with him that this is a good idea.
Part of the reason that people BUY the iPhone is that it's simple and stylish, rather than the existing information heavy devices like Pocket PC phones. In particular, look at his example about the Weather- Apple's widget is small and sleek. It shows you the vital information, and it does it in strong fonts and bold styling. It's clear, and it's easy.
He squishes all of that information into a tiny corner, so that he can add a large repeating satellite view- Sure it's useful in some cases, and it's certainly a neat demonstration of the iPhone's abilities, but it fails when it comes to the task of quickly giving me the important information.
It makes me squint to see the tiny version of the temperature, and shows off, rather than helping.
Sometimes developers fall into the problem of working so often because they can, not wondering if they should.
Note- He dismisses this argument, saying that information density isn't the problem, it's laying it out clearly. I agree with him in general,in that complex information can often be presented simply, but in most of his cases, increasing the density would diminish it's usefulness.
I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
You're right that doing middleware through Xfire is perfectly viable.. It didn't seem very supported when we last looked into it, though, which is one of the reasons I was nervous. I do see Adobe's posted http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flexjava.html though, which is a good first step.
Are you working with Flex->Xfire? How well does it work? Can you point me to any good resources? I've been frustrated with the small team size behind OL, and it's seemingly lagging technology when compared to Flex- While OL has some really nice features, it's always one or two steps behind, since it needs to then implement a wrapper for the API..
Not to mention the speed difference- Since OL can compile to JS or SWF6, it's slower than a native AS3 app for SWF9 would be.
On the other hand, it allows a *LOT* more compatibility. With OL, you can compile to versions of flash that work without anything new installed except windows. It also supports DHTML fallback, which means you can do your magic everywhere, even an iPhone. They're also working on the new features, such as SWF9/AS3 compilation targets, which will give you a speedboost, without having to recode your work.
Like most things, it's a series of tradeoffs. -Colin
The biggest problem with Flex is that the Data services, the piece it needs to actually talk to a real back end, is closed. $10,000 per server worth of closed.
Adobe Flex is an compelling platform- As I understand, it's Adobe's attempt to bring desktop programming to Flash, using an Eclipse plugin and compiling either to standalone SWFs, or to files generated on the fly with your data.
It's got a few interesting widgets[1], and it's starting to be adopted in more places such as Yahoo's Maps application.
Also worth looking into is OpenLaszlo (http://www.openlaszlo.org/) which is written in a standardized XML language, and compiles to both SWF or DHTML. I've found that there aren't as many people in the community, and documentation is a bit lacking, but being able to compile to multiple runtimes is nice, as is the understanding that if Adobe changes their mind, you can always compile to Silverlight or some other destination down the road.
Both can call Java backends fairly easily, and both are OSS, although OpenLaszlo is far more open.
Also worth investigating is Haxe (Haxe.org), which generates Flash files, and uses it's own custom programming language for both the client and the server.
He also deserves praise for his work on the 2004 Election. He updated a map every day, using poll data from a number of sources, and mapping it against the electoral values of each state. It was a tremendous site, and I look forward to his coverage of the 2006 Senate.
Historically, that's been true, but the 3.0 version seems to be re-targetted toward being a more functional OS as well. While I'm sure it's still primarily intended for Teaching, He's focusing on reliability as the selling point of the new version- It's got an advantage over Linux in that all drivers run in user-space. That means drivers can't bring down the whole kernel. Given that most kernel bugs come from driver implementations, this is a very nice feature.
"MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on resource-limited and embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability."
Keep in mind, that modern CPU architectures tend to translate to a much more RISC like set of instructions internally. It wouldn't be horribly wrong to argue that they are translating, although using dedicated Hardware, instead of software.
And while it's not 15 years out, IIRC, the IA-64 architecture did actually use a software translator. (Although to be fair, I think that was more of a VLIW style chip)
While I don't claim to understand the entire 15 year history of chip production perfectly, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss his comments. He was more right than he was wrong.
No, he's losing his mod points because you can't post and mod in a story. Thus, since he has mod points to use, he's making the point that he's giving those up to point this out. That's all.
It's not a vulnerability at all... Just obfuscation. The image is set to be a background image, using CSS. Like a background on Table, or on a website, the page doesn't let you click on it, to directly alter it.
Ok.. Let me make sure I understand this correctly..
I maintain a few domains, such as a Sq7.org, from which I send e-mail.. I send it from home, from my girlfriends house, from wherever I happen to be.. But I send it by connecting through the sq7.org server, and forwarding mail through there.
The way I understand SPF, I just need to publish that the IP sq7.org runs on is authorized to send Sq7.org's mail, and NOT the IP for my home, office, etc, since I don't send directly from the local computer.
If I did send directly from the local computer, without going through the external server, I'd need to add my local IP to the SQ7.org DNS records.
As it is, though, I'll need to avoid using my ISP's SMTP servers if mine go down, or add them to the domain.
Somewhat off-topic, but does anyone have any screenshots, or a demo site for the sceasoft firmware? I'd love to take a look at what they have to offer, without comitting to the software..
Gives me a Random Wikipedia entry each time I open a browser window. I've buckets of information that I would never otherwise have any inclination to research, but have found very interesting..
Me.. have big skull... Thicker than most friends... This.. Mean me no smart? Years learning UNIX wasted. Me sad.... Is.. Causal relationship between big skull and dumb man found?
Me tell my college friends who crush beer cans on they head that they are evolving themselves.
PithHelmet really is a necessary tool, for Anyone who wants to filter content, not just advertisements, but cookies, and everything.
Version Tracker comments reveal that it does work on 1.2, but not out of the box. Just change the MaxVersion in the pList.
Crimped from the comments there-
If you use PithHelmet and have updated to Safari 1.2 you'll notice it doesnt work. Here is the fix that should work until PH gets a proper update. open/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/ Right click (control+click) PithHelmet.bundle and select "show package contents" Open the info.plist file in either BBEdit or Property List Editor if you have the dev tools installed Find where it says MaxSafariBundleVersion and change the value to 125 Save and restart safari. thats it, now it works.
If you need to install 0.7.2 fresh on a box with Safari 1.2 already on it, you'll need to do the following:
1. Download and open the PithHelmet folder 2. Navigate to the Packages subfolder 3. Right-click (ctrl-click yadda yadda) the PithHelmet.pkg file and select "Show Package Contents" 4. Navigate into the Contents/Resources subfolder 5. Open the file InstallationCheck in a text editor (I used TextEdit) 6. Chage the string 100 in the line:
exit((1 6) | (1 5) | 16) if ($1 != 100);
to 125 and save the file. 7. Install as usual by running the regular PithHelmet.mpkg package
Frost, a client application that works via Freenet, has a Search algorithm. Think of the difference between your TCP/IP stack (freenet), and Kazaa (Frost)
Freenet is really just a way of exchanging this information. The specifics of what to exchange is left to the client writers. There are front ends for SMTP, NNTP, Searchable file transfers, and of course webpages.
It's really a much more importaint system than most people realize. It's not just about filesharing. It's about redefining the internet.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a great start, but I'd like to see them backport the KB/Mouse to their older games as well.
I've always been a PC gamer, but this is step in the right direction. They could port it to Portal 2 with a Software patch, and I'd be a happy guy.
If more companies did this, the PS3 would be an obvious buy for me..
I also like the openness Sony's had with their PSN, and I like that I can buy Portal 2 for PS3, and get a Steam version for free.
Sony is a bunch of asshats in lots of areas, but they're doing OK on this part.
I GREATLY prefer to buy games through Steam, and will often pay a premium to do so. It gives me the convenience of being able to download it on any PC I go to; It's in my list, along with every other game.
I don't need to store the DMG or ISO, and go through a manual install process. It's all there, in one place, easy as pie, and ready to move across systems.
If you look at his examples, his primary argument is that you can cram more information on the screen because of the iPhone's high resolution. I can't agree with him that this is a good idea.
Part of the reason that people BUY the iPhone is that it's simple and stylish, rather than the existing information heavy devices like Pocket PC phones. In particular, look at his example about the Weather- Apple's widget is small and sleek. It shows you the vital information, and it does it in strong fonts and bold styling. It's clear, and it's easy.
He squishes all of that information into a tiny corner, so that he can add a large repeating satellite view- Sure it's useful in some cases, and it's certainly a neat demonstration of the iPhone's abilities, but it fails when it comes to the task of quickly giving me the important information.
It makes me squint to see the tiny version of the temperature, and shows off, rather than helping.
Sometimes developers fall into the problem of working so often because they can, not wondering if they should.
Note- He dismisses this argument, saying that information density isn't the problem, it's laying it out clearly. I agree with him in general,in that complex information can often be presented simply, but in most of his cases, increasing the density would diminish it's usefulness.
I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
You're right that doing middleware through Xfire is perfectly viable.. It didn't seem very supported when we last looked into it, though, which is one of the reasons I was nervous. I do see Adobe's posted http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flexjava.html
though, which is a good first step.
Are you working with Flex->Xfire? How well does it work? Can you point me to any good resources?
I've been frustrated with the small team size behind OL, and it's seemingly lagging technology when compared to Flex- While OL has some really nice features, it's always one or two steps behind, since it needs to then implement a wrapper for the API..
Not to mention the speed difference- Since OL can compile to JS or SWF6, it's slower than a native AS3 app for SWF9 would be.
On the other hand, it allows a *LOT* more compatibility. With OL, you can compile to versions of flash that work without anything new installed except windows. It also supports DHTML fallback, which means you can do your magic everywhere, even an iPhone. They're also working on the new features, such as SWF9/AS3 compilation targets, which will give you a speedboost, without having to recode your work.
Like most things, it's a series of tradeoffs.
-Colin
The biggest problem with Flex is that the Data services, the piece it needs to actually talk to a real back end, is closed. $10,000 per server worth of closed.
Adobe Flex is an compelling platform- As I understand, it's Adobe's attempt to bring desktop programming to Flash, using an Eclipse plugin and compiling either to standalone SWFs, or to files generated on the fly with your data.
It's got a few interesting widgets[1], and it's starting to be adopted in more places such as Yahoo's Maps application.
Also worth looking into is OpenLaszlo (http://www.openlaszlo.org/) which is written in a standardized XML language, and compiles to both SWF or DHTML. I've found that there aren't as many people in the community, and documentation is a bit lacking, but being able to compile to multiple runtimes is nice, as is the understanding that if Adobe changes their mind, you can always compile to Silverlight or some other destination down the road.
Both can call Java backends fairly easily, and both are OSS, although OpenLaszlo is far more open.
Also worth investigating is Haxe (Haxe.org), which generates Flash files, and uses it's own custom programming language for both the client and the server.
[1]
http://www.brightworks.com/technology/adobe_flex/components_widgets_etc.html
They did.
The Nag screen has been gone since Quicktime 7, which came out a few months ago.
He also deserves praise for his work on the 2004 Election. He updated a map every day, using poll data from a number of sources, and mapping it against the electoral values of each state.
It was a tremendous site, and I look forward to his coverage of the 2006 Senate.
Historically, that's been true, but the 3.0 version seems to be re-targetted toward being a more functional OS as well.
While I'm sure it's still primarily intended for Teaching, He's focusing on reliability as the selling point of the new version-
It's got an advantage over Linux in that all drivers run in user-space. That means drivers can't bring down the whole kernel. Given that most kernel bugs come from driver implementations, this is a very nice feature.
"MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on resource-limited and embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability."
Keep in mind, that modern CPU architectures tend to translate to a much more RISC like set of instructions internally. It wouldn't be horribly wrong to argue that they are translating, although using dedicated Hardware, instead of software.
And while it's not 15 years out, IIRC, the IA-64 architecture did actually use a software translator. (Although to be fair, I think that was more of a VLIW style chip)
While I don't claim to understand the entire 15 year history of chip production perfectly, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss his comments. He was more right than he was wrong.
No, he's losing his mod points because you can't post and mod in a story. Thus, since he has mod points to use, he's making the point that he's giving those up to point this out.
That's all.
It's not a vulnerability at all... Just obfuscation.
The image is set to be a background image, using CSS. Like a background on Table, or on a website, the page doesn't let you click on it, to directly alter it.
But in the code itself, it's pretty obvious...
An example, of the straight JPEG
Ok.. Let me make sure I understand this correctly..
I maintain a few domains, such as a Sq7.org, from which I send e-mail.. I send it from home, from my girlfriends house, from wherever I happen to be.. But I send it by connecting through the sq7.org server, and forwarding mail through there.
The way I understand SPF, I just need to publish that the IP sq7.org runs on is authorized to send Sq7.org's mail, and NOT the IP for my home, office, etc, since I don't send directly from the local computer.
If I did send directly from the local computer, without going through the external server, I'd need to add my local IP to the SQ7.org DNS records.
As it is, though, I'll need to avoid using my ISP's SMTP servers if mine go down, or add them to the domain.
Am I understanding this right?
-Colin
Somewhat off-topic, but does anyone have any screenshots, or a demo site for the sceasoft firmware?
I'd love to take a look at what they have to offer, without comitting to the software..
-Colin
They did do Easter a few years ago.. But it was subtle, and more witht he Pagan spring festival, than Easter Proper..
http://www.google.com/logos/easter01.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Randompage
Gives me a Random Wikipedia entry each time I open a browser window. I've buckets of information that I would never otherwise have any inclination to research, but have found very interesting..
Of course, that's just the video page.. The rest is still there, just a directory up, at http://www.sq7.org/tmp/host/epicgaming/hardware/md _oc/
The site, including the videos, are convieniently mirrored to sq7.org
The site seems to be a database driven PHP site, and dying fast. I threw the contents of my cache up, just in case-
http://www.sq7.org/temp/ipod
Me.. have big skull... Thicker than most friends... This.. Mean me no smart?
Years learning UNIX wasted. Me sad....
Is.. Causal relationship between big skull and dumb man found?
Me tell my college friends who crush beer cans on they head that they are evolving themselves.
I guess I go post a grits now...
In case the site shuts down under the load, I've mirrored the page (including the Video,) to our SQ7.org project server.
Mirror
Good luck, and a cool project. A Hacker in the coolest sense of the word.
Follow the set of instructions for "If PithHelmet is already installed" as well.
It should work after you follow both sets.
-Colin
The best utility for Safari.. Content Filtering.
/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/
PithHelmet really is a necessary tool, for Anyone who wants to filter content, not just advertisements, but cookies, and everything.
Version Tracker comments reveal that it does work on 1.2, but not out of the box. Just change the MaxVersion in the pList.
Crimped from the comments there-
If you use PithHelmet and have updated to Safari 1.2 you'll notice it doesnt work. Here is the fix that should work until PH gets a proper update.
open
Right click (control+click) PithHelmet.bundle and select "show package contents"
Open the info.plist file in either BBEdit or Property List Editor if you have the dev tools installed
Find where it says MaxSafariBundleVersion and change the value to 125
Save and restart safari. thats it, now it works.
If you need to install 0.7.2 fresh on a box with Safari 1.2 already on it, you'll need to do the following:
1. Download and open the PithHelmet folder
2. Navigate to the Packages subfolder
3. Right-click (ctrl-click yadda yadda) the PithHelmet.pkg file and select "Show Package Contents"
4. Navigate into the Contents/Resources subfolder
5. Open the file InstallationCheck in a text editor (I used TextEdit)
6. Chage the string 100 in the line:
exit((1 6) | (1 5) | 16) if ($1 != 100);
to 125 and save the file.
7. Install as usual by running the regular PithHelmet.mpkg package
I hope it has the bandwidth.... It seems to be fairly.. Crashed?
e s/ if it won't load for you..
I threw a copy of my version of the images at
http://www.sq7.org/temp/mirror/www.mujmac.cz/imag
-Colin
Frost, a client application that works via Freenet, has a Search algorithm. Think of the difference between your TCP/IP stack (freenet), and Kazaa (Frost)
Freenet is really just a way of exchanging this information. The specifics of what to exchange is left to the client writers. There are front ends for SMTP, NNTP, Searchable file transfers, and of course webpages.
It's really a much more importaint system than most people realize. It's not just about filesharing. It's about redefining the internet.