I'm under the impression that piracy of music/software is worse is Europe than in the US. Does Microsoft stand a chance on this front, given their terrible reputation in Europe as it is?
Anyone else notice how much Max looks like the guy that had the lead in the Resident Evil movie? Every time he came on the screen, my friends and I yelled "Max Payne!"
The thing that I do like about friendster is the people that have set up "hubs". For example, someone created a profile for my college (Bennington), and increasingly, people from my school become friends with that profile. It's a great way to reconnect, since it creates a common hub for people.
I've also seen nodes for other schools, religions, countries and whatnot.
Those should be allowed to stay- or, integrate the idea into the system a little bit more.
The same people that design prisons also design a lot of schools.
Kids in school really get the short end of the rights-stick. Remember how your parents always used to tell you that "school is your job?' well, let's look at it from a work-place sort of view:
They are forced to sit at desks. They can have their belongings searched, they have to ask to use the bathroom. They are constantly micromanaged. Imagine if you were subjected to the same things in your workplace. You'd quit in a second.
Adding cameras to schools is not going to solve any problems- teachers will be more stressed out about performing well, kids will have the fear of an eye constantly watching them, and administrators will have one more piece of power over the kids.
I predict major backlash, but it's going to be one of those things that no one picks up on... I am of the opinion that cracking down on kids more and more is what leads to things like Columbine. Kids are people, and they should be treated as such.
I'm not a music person, but I've got a lot of friends that are, and they all swear by Finale. The mac version, too. It seems pretty descent for what you are talking about, too. If I remember correctly, it runs pretty well on older systems (it's all MIDI, I think) so you don't need anything too great. In fact, my college's Finale stations were all Beige G3s, and no one complained.
This is interesting, especially with all the IT outsourcing to India that we have seen lately. Could mean for yet cheaper outsourcing costs here in the US- if people start using Red Hat at home, maybe they will want to use it at work.
-This should be a marketing buzzword in a few years.
However, you will only see it used to cover up a bug:
Engineer: I still can't get the user interface to work right. Marketing person: That's OK, we'll just say it's geek-customisable, for the advanced user.
It could be really expensive, but if Sony want the market badly enough, they can sell it at a loss until they have control of the market, and make the money from games (That's where the real money in consoles is, the licensing).
I'm looking at the specs on this, and I'm thinking easily in the $500-$800 range- look at the cost of the new Clie they are putting out (yes, yes, different engineers and all, but still). That's got some similar features, and it's $700.
For Sony to get this thing off the ground, they will have to sell at a loss. Or they will have to incorporate it into the Clie line somehow and aim for business use more than kids on a playground.
...failed at just about everything before becoming president. You can't innovate without failure (opens door for innovation comment trolls). The article discusses technologies that they DID help pioneer, not just the ones they usurped.
There are a lot of Venture Capitalists that won't even think to give you money unless you've got a failure or two behind you.
-and let's not forget the term "Trial and Error" even if you are not intending to use it, there is an element of it in any venture.
The only time a civilization or humanity has been "displaced" has been because the people self-destructed, not because of their inventions, mechanical creations, or otherwise.
Why can't technology be the mechanism for the self-destruction?
How long will it be before we revolt against the machines that take our jobs?
Seriously, if I lost my job to a machine, I'd be pretty pissed. Imagine if 50% of the company was unemployed- you can bet that people would revolt against the machines.
Technology, as much as a love it, is on the verge of getting out of hand. It reminds me of a quote I once heard on the Smothers Brothers TV show:
Once you give a kid a hammer, the whole world becomes his nail.
Technology is our hammer, and we are wildly pounding it where ever. I think this is one time when we would finally see some major repercussions from tech.
Still, a robotic maid to clean my apartment would be nice.
I totally agree with what you are saying here. Microsoft is as big as it is not because of it's innovation or creativity in the programming realm, but rather in the business and marketing one.
Microsoft has the money to throw themselves into any market an dominate it- look at the Xbox. They saw an opening in a market, and jumped in full speed and are now a competitor. How many other companies could have gotten into this market when MS did, and been as successful?
This is why Linux should scare MS as much as it does: It's not that Linux is more stable, better looking, or any other million reasons; it's that MS can't beat out Linux in the business side.
Just as P2P networks are going to force the entertainment industry to give us high quality stuff if we are going to pay for it, Linux is going to force MS to truly have to innovate and create something really amazing to get our money.
If everyone that is playing hates it, doesn't that make it a success for a MMORPG? It seems like everyone who plays them, hates them with a buring passion.
It's not even online to the public yet, and people hate it. It's the greatest game ever!
I'm with you on that one. I've tried many a time to switch to Red Hat as my primary OS except for gaming, and it's hard. As much as I want to get away from M$, XP works really well for the stuff that I do with it (music playback, DVD watching, gameing, browsing).
I could live without a lot of that, but why would I want to?
Sureâ"it's the whole horseless carriage scenario. Early cars looked like carriages, early TVs looked like radios. Every time somebody brings you something thatâ(TM)s new, it looks like the old thing. Itâ(TM)s only the second or third generation before it finally starts to look like the new thing.
This is a great point. Why do cell phones look like regular phones? They don't have to. Look at the handspring Treo- it tries to look like a PDA and a cell phone at the same time, and it winds up looking pretty clumsy. My contrast, the new Tungsten W just looks like a PDA, even though it's also a phone. This is a bit smarter of a design, because there is no need for it to look like a phone in order for it to have the function of one. The down side being, you can't just put it up to your ear, like the Treo.
I'm predicting that this is the way that more devices will go. When Bluetooth becomes more of a player, we will just slap on a mini headset to make a call and use a PDA to make the call... and that PDA will LOOK like a PDA and not a phone, because what's the point in having it look like a phone? With a little luck, the idea of a headset will change, too.
A business is not designed to make friends, engender feelings of goodwill towards puppies, or cure cancer. That, my friend, would be called a charity.
Hell, even charities have to maintain a bottom line. I've had lots of friends that work at them, and if anything, they are more cut-throat than real businesses, because the only way they stay in business is through donations.
Trust me, a lot of times when you donate to a charity, all you are doing is paying for some aging hippie to afford his apartment on the Upper West Side.
That's why I give my money to one charity alone: "The Tripp needs a new computer every three months fund"
Slashdot always has good coverage of this issue, and everyone likes to talk about it, but who does anything about it?
We should at least be writing to our congress-people about the issue. It's one that's not getting substantial media attention, but it's going to become a HUGE issue in a few years.
NOW is the time to put the wheels in motion that are going to save us from government control over all intellectual property.
We need to force some change- we need to show the media empire that it can't hold onto it's current business model, that it's greedy little eyes need to open up a little and see the damage they are causing.
There is a solution to pirating that does not have to involve the government or anyone else erasing hard drives. Apple's on the right track with the iTunes store. We should be making the RIAA look at new solutions that work best for all involved, not just some fat cats./end rant
There was an article I read awhile back that said Palm recently admitted to having problems getting the memory size up under the OS, which is where I think the small memory sizes you find on Palm devices come from.
This is totally assumption, but perhaps there is more to memory in devices than we normally think. Memory is a pretty cheap thing in standardized forms, AKA memory sticks, RAM, SD cards, but when you are trying to create new, smaller chips for a customized Palm model, I bet your costs rise as you need to re-invent that wheel with every new model. It's probably why SD cards were added in the first place, to add a little consistency to the mix.
Someone DID do a remake of sorts- he could not get the rights to the name, so it's called Space H.O.R.S.E. It's been mentioned on/. a few times.
There was a period when MULE didn't stand a chance in the gaming market, but thanks to the popularity of games like The Sims, I think a net-workable version could do very well. Imagine it like this, though: You expand the personal development section considerably. Not only can you install/transfer MULES and hunt the Wampus, but you can do maintenance, tweaking, and other stuff. instead of a two minute timer, you have a 30 minute one (of course, depending on your food level!) and then you connect to an online server, where you have an auction with several other people realtime. It could be interesting. Also, imagine if it was first person...
Note to EA: Give me credit when (not if) you use any of these ideas.
Slashdot Mirror
I've got a question-
I'm under the impression that piracy of music/software is worse is Europe than in the US. Does Microsoft stand a chance on this front, given their terrible reputation in Europe as it is?
Any Europeans out there care to enlighten me?
Anyone else notice how much Max looks like the guy that had the lead in the Resident Evil movie? Every time he came on the screen, my friends and I yelled "Max Payne!"
Now, the fakesters are whatever-
The thing that I do like about friendster is the people that have set up "hubs". For example, someone created a profile for my college (Bennington), and increasingly, people from my school become friends with that profile. It's a great way to reconnect, since it creates a common hub for people.
I've also seen nodes for other schools, religions, countries and whatnot.
Those should be allowed to stay- or, integrate the idea into the system a little bit more.
The same people that design prisons also design a lot of schools.
Kids in school really get the short end of the rights-stick. Remember how your parents always used to tell you that "school is your job?' well, let's look at it from a work-place sort of view:
They are forced to sit at desks. They can have their belongings searched, they have to ask to use the bathroom. They are constantly micromanaged. Imagine if you were subjected to the same things in your workplace. You'd quit in a second.
Adding cameras to schools is not going to solve any problems- teachers will be more stressed out about performing well, kids will have the fear of an eye constantly watching them, and administrators will have one more piece of power over the kids.
I predict major backlash, but it's going to be one of those things that no one picks up on... I am of the opinion that cracking down on kids more and more is what leads to things like Columbine. Kids are people, and they should be treated as such.
I'm not a music person, but I've got a lot of friends that are, and they all swear by Finale. The mac version, too. It seems pretty descent for what you are talking about, too. If I remember correctly, it runs pretty well on older systems (it's all MIDI, I think) so you don't need anything too great. In fact, my college's Finale stations were all Beige G3s, and no one complained.
This is interesting, especially with all the IT outsourcing to India that we have seen lately. Could mean for yet cheaper outsourcing costs here in the US- if people start using Red Hat at home, maybe they will want to use it at work.
geek-customisable
-This should be a marketing buzzword in a few years.
However, you will only see it used to cover up a bug:
Engineer: I still can't get the user interface to work right.
Marketing person: That's OK, we'll just say it's geek-customisable, for the advanced user.
People carry their wallets in their back pockets. People leave windows unlocked. People trust their neighbors. People think their data is secure.
A good thief/crook/whatever is someone who exploits this feeling of security, not breaking into a secure system.
This guy just screwed up and got caught. I bet this happens a lot more than we think, thanks to our sense of security.
Look at the "pet rocks" that sold in the 70's
-or the popularity of AOL in the 90s
You'll have to pry my iTrip from my cold, dead hands.
Whatever you say, Charlie
It could be really expensive, but if Sony want the market badly enough, they can sell it at a loss until they have control of the market, and make the money from games (That's where the real money in consoles is, the licensing).
I'm looking at the specs on this, and I'm thinking easily in the $500-$800 range- look at the cost of the new Clie they are putting out (yes, yes, different engineers and all, but still). That's got some similar features, and it's $700.
For Sony to get this thing off the ground, they will have to sell at a loss. Or they will have to incorporate it into the Clie line somehow and aim for business use more than kids on a playground.
That said, I want one now.
...failed at just about everything before becoming president.
You can't innovate without failure (opens door for innovation comment trolls). The article discusses technologies that they DID help pioneer, not just the ones they usurped.
There are a lot of Venture Capitalists that won't even think to give you money unless you've got a failure or two behind you.
-and let's not forget the term "Trial and Error" even if you are not intending to use it, there is an element of it in any venture.
The only time a civilization or humanity has been "displaced" has been because the people self-destructed, not because of their inventions, mechanical creations, or otherwise.
Why can't technology be the mechanism for the self-destruction?
How long will it be before we revolt against the machines that take our jobs?
Seriously, if I lost my job to a machine, I'd be pretty pissed. Imagine if 50% of the company was unemployed- you can bet that people would revolt against the machines.
Technology, as much as a love it, is on the verge of getting out of hand. It reminds me of a quote I once heard on the Smothers Brothers TV show:
Once you give a kid a hammer, the whole world becomes his nail.
Technology is our hammer, and we are wildly pounding it where ever. I think this is one time when we would finally see some major repercussions from tech.
Still, a robotic maid to clean my apartment would be nice.
I wonder if they will count the costs of the commercials in the money they are loosing every year to piracy...
I totally agree with what you are saying here. Microsoft is as big as it is not because of it's innovation or creativity in the programming realm, but rather in the business and marketing one.
Microsoft has the money to throw themselves into any market an dominate it- look at the Xbox. They saw an opening in a market, and jumped in full speed and are now a competitor. How many other companies could have gotten into this market when MS did, and been as successful?
This is why Linux should scare MS as much as it does: It's not that Linux is more stable, better looking, or any other million reasons; it's that MS can't beat out Linux in the business side.
Just as P2P networks are going to force the entertainment industry to give us high quality stuff if we are going to pay for it, Linux is going to force MS to truly have to innovate and create something really amazing to get our money.
At least, I hope.
If everyone that is playing hates it, doesn't that make it a success for a MMORPG? It seems like everyone who plays them, hates them with a buring passion.
It's not even online to the public yet, and people hate it. It's the greatest game ever!
I'm with you on that one. I've tried many a time to switch to Red Hat as my primary OS except for gaming, and it's hard. As much as I want to get away from M$, XP works really well for the stuff that I do with it (music playback, DVD watching, gameing, browsing).
I could live without a lot of that, but why would I want to?
Sureâ"it's the whole horseless carriage scenario. Early cars looked like carriages, early TVs looked like radios. Every time somebody brings you something thatâ(TM)s new, it looks like the old thing. Itâ(TM)s only the second or third generation before it finally starts to look like the new thing.
This is a great point. Why do cell phones look like regular phones? They don't have to. Look at the handspring Treo- it tries to look like a PDA and a cell phone at the same time, and it winds up looking pretty clumsy. My contrast, the new Tungsten W just looks like a PDA, even though it's also a phone. This is a bit smarter of a design, because there is no need for it to look like a phone in order for it to have the function of one. The down side being, you can't just put it up to your ear, like the Treo.
I'm predicting that this is the way that more devices will go. When Bluetooth becomes more of a player, we will just slap on a mini headset to make a call and use a PDA to make the call... and that PDA will LOOK like a PDA and not a phone, because what's the point in having it look like a phone? With a little luck, the idea of a headset will change, too.
No way, man! I'm a nerd, not an aging Hippie!
Hell, if people start donating, I'll create a website showing how every donation goes towards specific components of my computer.
It's the adopt a nerd's box campaign.
A business is not designed to make friends, engender feelings of goodwill towards puppies, or cure cancer. That, my friend, would be called a charity.
Hell, even charities have to maintain a bottom line. I've had lots of friends that work at them, and if anything, they are more cut-throat than real businesses, because the only way they stay in business is through donations.
Trust me, a lot of times when you donate to a charity, all you are doing is paying for some aging hippie to afford his apartment on the Upper West Side.
That's why I give my money to one charity alone: "The Tripp needs a new computer every three months fund"
Please, donate.
dude, not GIF! Let's use GIPH!
yeah man... I got the papers if you got thr weed...
Slashdot always has good coverage of this issue, and everyone likes to talk about it, but who does anything about it?
/end rant
We should at least be writing to our congress-people about the issue. It's one that's not getting substantial media attention, but it's going to become a HUGE issue in a few years.
NOW is the time to put the wheels in motion that are going to save us from government control over all intellectual property.
We need to force some change- we need to show the media empire that it can't hold onto it's current business model, that it's greedy little eyes need to open up a little and see the damage they are causing.
There is a solution to pirating that does not have to involve the government or anyone else erasing hard drives. Apple's on the right track with the iTunes store. We should be making the RIAA look at new solutions that work best for all involved, not just some fat cats.
There was an article I read awhile back that said Palm recently admitted to having problems getting the memory size up under the OS, which is where I think the small memory sizes you find on Palm devices come from.
This is totally assumption, but perhaps there is more to memory in devices than we normally think. Memory is a pretty cheap thing in standardized forms, AKA memory sticks, RAM, SD cards, but when you are trying to create new, smaller chips for a customized Palm model, I bet your costs rise as you need to re-invent that wheel with every new model. It's probably why SD cards were added in the first place, to add a little consistency to the mix.
Someone DID do a remake of sorts- he could not get the rights to the name, so it's called Space H.O.R.S.E. It's been mentioned on /. a few times.
There was a period when MULE didn't stand a chance in the gaming market, but thanks to the popularity of games like The Sims, I think a net-workable version could do very well. Imagine it like this, though: You expand the personal development section considerably. Not only can you install/transfer MULES and hunt the Wampus, but you can do maintenance, tweaking, and other stuff. instead of a two minute timer, you have a 30 minute one (of course, depending on your food level!) and then you connect to an online server, where you have an auction with several other people realtime. It could be interesting. Also, imagine if it was first person...
Note to EA: Give me credit when (not if) you use any of these ideas.