Actually, I suspect it's more of a case that dial-up is an entrenched market in the US whereas it wasn't in either Japan or Korea. Oh, sure, it existed and people used it, but they hadn't had the years of dial-up exposure before cable and DSL hit the scene like the US did. Again, dial-up is an entrenched market. Sure, the limited pool of cable/DSL providers may have something to do with it, but lets get some perspective here.
As to the "And, as usual, we learn that countries such as Japan and Korea are far ahead of the US in terms of innovation and technological saturation." bit, Gee... no biased there, huh? Granted, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in their workforce and schools as well, in addition to the huge number of unreported rape cases, but hey, they are saturated with innovative technology... As usual. It's not nessisarily the topic, I realize, but loaded comments like that so irk me.
To get this.75 cent tax anywhere near enforceble, you are going to have to specifically identify who uses Fraunhofer encoding because "MP3" isn't in dispute; The codec is. Somehow, they're going to have to prove that people are using the decoder (say, Winamp) to specifically decode MP3s using the Fraunhofer format. I compress using LAME or BLADE, personally. Whatdaya know, Winamp decodes em just fine, the entire reason for LAME being a codec was to be readily distinguishable from and thus not subject to Fraunhofer copyrights. In otherwords, there's already a precedent. And if the decoders really wanted to get nasty, they could simply block the use of that codec, even point the user to LAME or BLADE when it discovers you using one. Or... Be particuarly devious and, though refusing to play it, offer to convert it to LAME, BLADE or Ogg standards right there on the spot. Doing that with the user base of Winamp alone would destroy any dreams Fraunhofer and company has of easy $$$$$
"Huhuhuh... Everybody has an MP3 decoder, we can make some serious-- Oh shit! Where'd our market base go!? Nobodies using our codec anymore!" but seriously, I doubt it'll get that nasty. Their case is toilet paper thin at best.
Agreed. I know it's supposively good for you, but I haven't found a way yet to make it tastey. Sugar? Milk? Uh-uh. I go to a Chinese resteraunt and I stare at the little untouched teapot which stares right back at me. Nasty stuff.
Water Joe and the Gatorade powder of your choice ^__^ Still, you can't beat coffee or Mocha Lattes. And for that extra kick, try the Starbuck's specialty mocha chocolate bars. You wouldn't think it, but those little things got kick...
Yeah, it's a reasonble price. Depending on who gets it. Sorry, but Fraunhofer isn't the worthy cause I had in mind. I'd pay much more for winamp. It has always been a super reliable program. But pay because Fraunhofer is extorting them? Don't think so.
You're right. It won't kill MP3 and like Wile E. Coyote, Fraunhofer will be lucky to ever actually catch a profit. Someday Ogg may come... And when it does, I hope everybody has a player with upgradable firmware handy.
Ok, as I understand this, Fraunhofer and company are now charging.75 cents for every decoder distributed. Supposively anything that decodes MP3s is subject to this tax. But that's not the end of it. Not by a long shot. His reign of terror extends to all things Fraunhofer. It just so happens my Mp3s are encoded using LAME and what do you know, damn near every decoder I use decodes LAME without a problem. So unless Fraunhofer can actually lay claim to the.mp3 extention, they're seriously SOL. I mean really. And it wouldn't be a huge shift in the industry to totally dump the Fraunhofer algorithm and use the free LAME system. Unless I've misread the situation, Fraunhofer has a seriously weak case and is threatening their already precarious position in the consumer market. And before you say Oog, it needs a lot more visibility before it even comes close to being a standard, though I have nothing against it (aside from the fact that hardely any portable player supports the format).
Marathon and it's younger cousin Halo. Story literally transformed that game from being a Tribes-like FPS into an epic saga. But it nessisarily take a story when the game is done right. Tribes? Laughable plot, but loads of fun (T2 might have been fun except for a certain "Fatal Exception" error popping up every 5-15 minutes of play) as was Tourny Unreal. These games got it right. Q3 just didn't have soul. Spark. Whatever, it just didn't have it.
Another topic to file under "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." First, I wouldn't use a religious argument against it's use, because it mainly applies to their consumption and the infested environments pigs live in regularly. I figure pigs marked for "harvesting" would have grow up in a relatively sterile environment. The cross species disease thing is a worry, however. Whee, you can transplant ape hearts. I guess. And pig valves. Yay. But the entire process reminds me of lazer eye surgery to some extent and it shakey beginnings. Sure, you were promised 20/20, but more often than not one wasn't told of the very risky side effects that could result. Never heard much about those, at least not as much as you probably should have. Piggly trnasplant endorcements remind me of this very issue...
"We can rebuild him. Stronger. Faster. And he'll taste like a BLT, too!"
My God, people, don't you realize the ace in the hole this company has? 90% of the dotcom's out there would kill for the hard capital this company has. In fact, it's the entire reason the.com bust happened-- All these companmies were venture capitaled to the hilt without any real assets of there own. When they hit the wall, they hurt their investors... Bad. Hell, after umpteen years of existance Amazon.com has only recently posted in the black. And don't think Bezos wasn't sweating bullets every day until that point, because if confindence for one minute faded in his ability, he was so far in the debt hole not even confidence could escape. Not your debt or my debt, but high millions debt. And that's not counting how he had to deal with his workforce (damn near 80% temps-- Hire em, fire em, hire em fire em...) to finally get above water. But for Liquid Audio to actually have assets... Unless the their problems were seriously irrecoverable, that's a major advantage to just piss away. I guess it's all about money now as opposed to long term success. Why not.
And anyone who thinks that's a racist, bigoted comment is ignoring the sad truth of the ghetto. That doesn't mean crimes aren't commited at higher income brakets or whatnot, just that there is a higher chance of those crimes being commited in those lower income brackets including dem darr white folk, which isn't mentioned. And it's true in any country as well, where the minorities here aren't minorities there. South Africa is a prime example. The majority populace (which just happen to be black and poor) suffer from an extreemly high crime rate, therefor statistics say that the majority of citizens in the country are likely to commit a crime. It's not a surprise or even racist as the author vaguely implies, though neither does it apply to everybody, which is what worries me about this system a bit.
Instead of armouring you refrigerator, why not buy the beer in specially layered electronic armour? This way, both your frig and beer are protected from shaped-charge attacks... The downside is that the beer cans have two huge capacitors hanging of the side and their's a chance of zapping yourself if you spill any.
Common, you're making it sound fun! I'd say limit the amount of onboard fuel allowed, first. As fas a projectiles flying through the air and striking the audiance with the greatest of ease, you'd have to perform worst case senarios and otherwise trash an arean before you allow the audiance in.
Really, I don't think they'd be switching if the advantages didn't outweigh the disadvantages, and I consider being disabled by an AK47 a serious disadvantage. Unless the designers all of a suddn planted their heads up their ass, I'm sure this has been considered. Like TamMan says, Hummers are highly AK47 resistant from top to bottom. Plus, wheels have got to do wonders for manuuverablity and gas milage;)
Drozd? Wasn't that a cartoon?
on
Electric Armor
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· Score: 2
But seriously, I'm glad somebody is thinking ahead. Of course you're right. Any yahoo with an RPG can pop-up and ruin your day, but the people that really have to worry about them are Blackhawks (sic) and light armour. Oh sure, they're a nuisance to the heavier stuff, but not the right tool for the job. As far as the non-ferrous shell goes, I meant for deflecting shells via EM charged armour, not the system of the story. Sci-fi stuff, I know.
It's been awhile since I read David Drake, honestly. Hammer's Slammers and all that. No reason why you couldn't make some sort of feed mechanism for the shotgun shells (50mm ^__^), I guess. Yeah, giving away your position is kinda a bad thing, though I'm sure you could key it off some IR system to look for the launch flash like in some aircraft sensors. Maybe.
A small lesson in warfare...
on
Electric Armor
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· Score: 2
Limiting your opponents's mobility is probably 80% of the battle. Something tells me this armour doesn't do a damn thing for the tracks. Granted, it's a smaller target to hit, but once he can't move, he's history sooner or later.
Sounds like these tanks could benefit from a quick reacting Phalanx gatling gun to serve as anti-missile defense, though I have no idea what the optimal flight times of Dragons and TOWs are. Enagagment times might just be too fast to be practical. I'd say with all the power these capacitors provide you could create some electromagnetic buffer to help defelct shells on impact, but any non-ferrous weapon would negate that. I guess slopped laminate composites will have to do unti the startrek defense shield comes online. And hovertanks. Gotta have hovertanks.
I guess one way to limit the liability is to limit the amount of flammables one unit could carry, thereby limiting the explosive power should something go horribly wrong. The teathering is a good idea too. Maybe a "Limited" series with an audiance and a robot "unlimited series" with remote braodcasting and all the weapons you can mount.
Hmmm... It sounds good, but my first impression is that it wouldn't fly simply because the disparity in engineering between robots and humans. I guess it could work given the right combination of materials and some pretty stellar programming.
A decent appendium to the Karma howto would be a small list of jokes sure to gain a chuckle in the right context. Applied with the right combination of the formentioned rules could earn you another +2 or +3.
1) "...Imagine a beowolf cluster of those!" 2) "Now all we need is to mount lasers on the head of a shark..."
Lastly, never, ever, EVER forget to mention the last piece of obscure hardware you installed Linux on. ie; "I installed Linux on my ceiling fan and boy does it fly now!"
Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated..."Might" as in it depends on who's had their prozac for the day. Doncha wish you could mod lower than -1? ^__^ I already had a +4 Interesting anyway. Now I want that +9 Ogre slaying knife you promised.
When the robots become autonomous, battling without human intervention, then I'll start showing real interest. That, and lets include some serious offensive weapons. Sure, spinning around like a mad top is ok, but how about projectiles? Flamethrowers? Tazer devices? That's what I'm talking about... And maybe serious, bot-bunching obstacles. Sure you'd have to hide the audiance behind bulletproof/shatterproof glass and make them sign waivers, but hey, it'd all be hella fun.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, I suspect it's more of a case that dial-up is an entrenched market in the US whereas it wasn't in either Japan or Korea. Oh, sure, it existed and people used it, but they hadn't had the years of dial-up exposure before cable and DSL hit the scene like the US did. Again, dial-up is an entrenched market. Sure, the limited pool of cable/DSL providers may have something to do with it, but lets get some perspective here.
As to the "And, as usual, we learn that countries such as Japan and Korea are far ahead of the US in terms of innovation and technological saturation." bit, Gee... no biased there, huh? Granted, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in their workforce and schools as well, in addition to the huge number of unreported rape cases, but hey, they are saturated with innovative technology... As usual. It's not nessisarily the topic, I realize, but loaded comments like that so irk me.
To get this .75 cent tax anywhere near enforceble, you are going to have to specifically identify who uses Fraunhofer encoding because "MP3" isn't in dispute; The codec is. Somehow, they're going to have to prove that people are using the decoder (say, Winamp) to specifically decode MP3s using the Fraunhofer format. I compress using LAME or BLADE, personally. Whatdaya know, Winamp decodes em just fine, the entire reason for LAME being a codec was to be readily distinguishable from and thus not subject to Fraunhofer copyrights. In otherwords, there's already a precedent. And if the decoders really wanted to get nasty, they could simply block the use of that codec, even point the user to LAME or BLADE when it discovers you using one. Or... Be particuarly devious and, though refusing to play it, offer to convert it to LAME, BLADE or Ogg standards right there on the spot. Doing that with the user base of Winamp alone would destroy any dreams Fraunhofer and company has of easy $$$$$
"Huhuhuh... Everybody has an MP3 decoder, we can make some serious-- Oh shit! Where'd our market base go!? Nobodies using our codec anymore!" but seriously, I doubt it'll get that nasty. Their case is toilet paper thin at best.
Agreed. I know it's supposively good for you, but I haven't found a way yet to make it tastey. Sugar? Milk? Uh-uh. I go to a Chinese resteraunt and I stare at the little untouched teapot which stares right back at me. Nasty stuff.
Water Joe and the Gatorade powder of your choice ^__^ Still, you can't beat coffee or Mocha Lattes. And for that extra kick, try the Starbuck's specialty mocha chocolate bars. You wouldn't think it, but those little things got kick...
Yeah, it's a reasonble price. Depending on who gets it. Sorry, but Fraunhofer isn't the worthy cause I had in mind. I'd pay much more for winamp. It has always been a super reliable program. But pay because Fraunhofer is extorting them? Don't think so.
You're right. It won't kill MP3 and like Wile E. Coyote, Fraunhofer will be lucky to ever actually catch a profit. Someday Ogg may come... And when it does, I hope everybody has a player with upgradable firmware handy.
Ok, as I understand this, Fraunhofer and company are now charging .75 cents for every decoder distributed. Supposively anything that decodes MP3s is subject to this tax. But that's not the end of it. Not by a long shot. His reign of terror extends to all things Fraunhofer. It just so happens my Mp3s are encoded using LAME and what do you know, damn near every decoder I use decodes LAME without a problem. So unless Fraunhofer can actually lay claim to the .mp3 extention, they're seriously SOL. I mean really. And it wouldn't be a huge shift in the industry to totally dump the Fraunhofer algorithm and use the free LAME system. Unless I've misread the situation, Fraunhofer has a seriously weak case and is threatening their already precarious position in the consumer market. And before you say Oog, it needs a lot more visibility before it even comes close to being a standard, though I have nothing against it (aside from the fact that hardely any portable player supports the format).
You, my dear sir, ought be shot. Wait. Shooting's too good for you...
Marathon and it's younger cousin Halo. Story literally transformed that game from being a Tribes-like FPS into an epic saga. But it nessisarily take a story when the game is done right. Tribes? Laughable plot, but loads of fun (T2 might have been fun except for a certain "Fatal Exception" error popping up every 5-15 minutes of play) as was Tourny Unreal. These games got it right. Q3 just didn't have soul. Spark. Whatever, it just didn't have it.
Another topic to file under "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." First, I wouldn't use a religious argument against it's use, because it mainly applies to their consumption and the infested environments pigs live in regularly. I figure pigs marked for "harvesting" would have grow up in a relatively sterile environment. The cross species disease thing is a worry, however. Whee, you can transplant ape hearts. I guess. And pig valves. Yay. But the entire process reminds me of lazer eye surgery to some extent and it shakey beginnings. Sure, you were promised 20/20, but more often than not one wasn't told of the very risky side effects that could result. Never heard much about those, at least not as much as you probably should have. Piggly trnasplant endorcements remind me of this very issue...
"We can rebuild him. Stronger. Faster. And he'll taste like a BLT, too!"
My God, people, don't you realize the ace in the hole this company has? 90% of the dotcom's out there would kill for the hard capital this company has. In fact, it's the entire reason the .com bust happened-- All these companmies were venture capitaled to the hilt without any real assets of there own. When they hit the wall, they hurt their investors... Bad. Hell, after umpteen years of existance Amazon.com has only recently posted in the black. And don't think Bezos wasn't sweating bullets every day until that point, because if confindence for one minute faded in his ability, he was so far in the debt hole not even confidence could escape. Not your debt or my debt, but high millions debt. And that's not counting how he had to deal with his workforce (damn near 80% temps-- Hire em, fire em, hire em fire em...) to finally get above water. But for Liquid Audio to actually have assets... Unless the their problems were seriously irrecoverable, that's a major advantage to just piss away. I guess it's all about money now as opposed to long term success. Why not.
And anyone who thinks that's a racist, bigoted comment is ignoring the sad truth of the ghetto. That doesn't mean crimes aren't commited at higher income brakets or whatnot, just that there is a higher chance of those crimes being commited in those lower income brackets including dem darr white folk, which isn't mentioned. And it's true in any country as well, where the minorities here aren't minorities there. South Africa is a prime example. The majority populace (which just happen to be black and poor) suffer from an extreemly high crime rate, therefor statistics say that the majority of citizens in the country are likely to commit a crime. It's not a surprise or even racist as the author vaguely implies, though neither does it apply to everybody, which is what worries me about this system a bit.
No shit!? I didn't think we had any... Too bad they're not more widespread!
I've always wanted to make a tazoe from that concept.. Electrify a fine mist or solid stream of water and shock the hijibees out of somebody ^__^
Instead of armouring you refrigerator, why not buy the beer in specially layered electronic armour? This way, both your frig and beer are protected from shaped-charge attacks... The downside is that the beer cans have two huge capacitors hanging of the side and their's a chance of zapping yourself if you spill any.
Common, you're making it sound fun! I'd say limit the amount of onboard fuel allowed, first. As fas a projectiles flying through the air and striking the audiance with the greatest of ease, you'd have to perform worst case senarios and otherwise trash an arean before you allow the audiance in.
Really, I don't think they'd be switching if the advantages didn't outweigh the disadvantages, and I consider being disabled by an AK47 a serious disadvantage. Unless the designers all of a suddn planted their heads up their ass, I'm sure this has been considered. Like TamMan says, Hummers are highly AK47 resistant from top to bottom. Plus, wheels have got to do wonders for manuuverablity and gas milage ;)
But seriously, I'm glad somebody is thinking ahead. Of course you're right. Any yahoo with an RPG can pop-up and ruin your day, but the people that really have to worry about them are Blackhawks (sic) and light armour. Oh sure, they're a nuisance to the heavier stuff, but not the right tool for the job. As far as the non-ferrous shell goes, I meant for deflecting shells via EM charged armour, not the system of the story. Sci-fi stuff, I know.
It's been awhile since I read David Drake, honestly. Hammer's Slammers and all that. No reason why you couldn't make some sort of feed mechanism for the shotgun shells (50mm ^__^), I guess. Yeah, giving away your position is kinda a bad thing, though I'm sure you could key it off some IR system to look for the launch flash like in some aircraft sensors. Maybe.
Limiting your opponents's mobility is probably 80% of the battle. Something tells me this armour doesn't do a damn thing for the tracks. Granted, it's a smaller target to hit, but once he can't move, he's history sooner or later.
Sounds like these tanks could benefit from a quick reacting Phalanx gatling gun to serve as anti-missile defense, though I have no idea what the optimal flight times of Dragons and TOWs are. Enagagment times might just be too fast to be practical. I'd say with all the power these capacitors provide you could create some electromagnetic buffer to help defelct shells on impact, but any non-ferrous weapon would negate that. I guess slopped laminate composites will have to do unti the startrek defense shield comes online. And hovertanks. Gotta have hovertanks.
Actually, I figured something like that, but didn't know BB's exact saftey standards. Thanks ^__^
I guess one way to limit the liability is to limit the amount of flammables one unit could carry, thereby limiting the explosive power should something go horribly wrong. The teathering is a good idea too. Maybe a "Limited" series with an audiance and a robot "unlimited series" with remote braodcasting and all the weapons you can mount.
Hmmm... It sounds good, but my first impression is that it wouldn't fly simply because the disparity in engineering between robots and humans. I guess it could work given the right combination of materials and some pretty stellar programming.
A decent appendium to the Karma howto would be a small list of jokes sure to gain a chuckle in the right context. Applied with the right combination of the formentioned rules could earn you another +2 or +3.
..."Might" as in it depends on who's had their prozac for the day. Doncha wish you could mod lower than -1? ^__^ I already had a +4 Interesting anyway. Now I want that +9 Ogre slaying knife you promised.
1) "...Imagine a beowolf cluster of those!"
2) "Now all we need is to mount lasers on the head of a shark..."
Lastly, never, ever, EVER forget to mention the last piece of obscure hardware you installed Linux on. ie; "I installed Linux on my ceiling fan and boy does it fly now!"
Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated
When the robots become autonomous, battling without human intervention, then I'll start showing real interest. That, and lets include some serious offensive weapons. Sure, spinning around like a mad top is ok, but how about projectiles? Flamethrowers? Tazer devices? That's what I'm talking about... And maybe serious, bot-bunching obstacles. Sure you'd have to hide the audiance behind bulletproof/shatterproof glass and make them sign waivers, but hey, it'd all be hella fun.