It's amazing the type of logic they use. For example, they cite the rampant piracy in the Asian market for the reason Phantom Menace performed lower than expected there. Didn't anyone stop to think that, perhaps, maybe they just figured out it wasn't a very good movie?;)
The article also mentions something about getting rid of unauthorized files...
By unauthorized I assume they mean copyrighted/illegal files. I think it's also safe to assume that while Kazaa has legal uses, it's primary use is trading copyrighted material. If this material is removed for non-paying users, we'll see a dramatic drops in the number of users.
As has happened in the past, with Napster for example, once one peer-to-peer program removes copyrighted files, there is a mass migration to new, alternative peer-to-peer system that does allow it.
As others have mentioned, I hope that the least Kazaa will do for paying customers is remove all the spyware.
Re:Firebird vs Mozilla Suite
on
Mozilla 1.4 RC1
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· Score: 1
I was wondering what electronic devices people found most useful for college now...
Well, for most of the college classes I took, the most useful electronic device I can think of would be a Game Boy Advance.
Hell, all I had was a cheap keychain with Tetris on it, but I swear by all things sacred that had I not been armed with that, the last vestiges of my sanity would have surely slipped away.
Overall, Firebird is my personal favorite... It has everything I love about Mozilla minus the bloat.
However, one thing has been kind of irking me lately: Is there any way I can get the "Open New Tab" button to appear in Firebird? I know I can just CTRL+T, but sometimes that's more awkward, especially if I already have my hand on the mouse.
OK, well, sorry for trying to get some cheap tech support here... heh. This article is pretty old, so I doubt anyone will read this anyway. But I would be really thankful for any help.:)
The world would be a sad, sad place without South Park.;)
The Ballard of Bilbo Baggins
on
LOTR The Musical!
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· Score: 2, Informative
Here it is... the infamous Ballard of Bilbo Baggins, performed by Leonard Nimoy. Here's where I found it, plus my mirror. It's in QuickTime, and a mere 4MB. The video has Nimoy singing with a bunch of women dancing around him. Heh...
That's nice and all, but isn't the number of connected users far more important than the number of downloads? I mean, the more users, the more files... and the more files, the more useful kazaa is to its users.
The last time I checked, there were about 3 million users connected.
Why is this number so much lower? Obviously people in different time zones probably sign on at different times, but even considering that, the number seems low when compared to what download.com is reporting.
Is this a sign that perhaps a lot of people have trouble getting kazaa to work (firewalls, schools/ISPs blocking it, etc)?
Is Slashdot really being hit that hard for bandwidth that you need to shorten your headlines, just to save a few bytes?;)
And I think this is great news. I don't really like Intel's stranglehold on the processor market, especially since AMD has processors that are equal if not better in most respects (the P4, with it's huge pipeline, sure takes a hit if it fails the branch prediction) but yet Intel is still considered the only "serious" choice to many people.
So, any company that has the balls of steel required to take on the microprocessor monopoly known as Intel, is an excellent company, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm glad they've been "OK'd" for this - it's a step in the right direction.
It's interesting that you should mention terminator...
Terminator shows that technology itself is neither good nor bad. It is merely the use of it that makes it so. In the first movie, the Terminator attempts to destroy the future of the human race by killing the mother of its enemy. In the second, the same model terminator is reprogrammed to save the human race.
And another thing... In both the matrix, and Terminator... what's so bad about humans being wiped out or machines taking over control of them? Would this not be, in a sense, a form of natural selection? If machines were more fit than us to survive, and intelligent enough to exterminate us or control us, then don't they sort of deserve to take our place as the dominant form of life on this planet?
I think that a planet of machines would probably be a lot less self-destructive, and more productive, than the current one containing humans.
The machines in both the Matrix and the terminator movies want us controlled or exterminated for good reasons: we're a danger to ourselves, and everything on the planet.
"If a machine, a terminator, can learn the value of human life... maybe we can, too."
Probably not, which is why the machines are likely morally superior to us, and more worthy of the right to exist, even if they are "soulless" creations. Better that we humans die and our work live on, than we simply fade out of existence without a trace.
Seriously, this is probably the kind of DRM that MS would love to implement if they didn't know users would obviously revolt.
These days, when newbies ask what type of machine to get, I almost always respond Macintosh. They are user friendly in the sense that the OS doesn't barf every few months. If I recommend any brand of PC to a beginner, I just know I'm going to end up doing free tech support for them real soon, and real often, and only because MS simply refuses to produce quality software. They know they can get away with bug-ridden shit, and since they've been doing it for years, why stop now?
I mean, granted, it didn't really make me think too much... In fact, quite the opposite. And it wasn't really all that innovative... but rarely has so much been done right in an RTS. Blizzard could have opted for the original "orcs in space" style gameplay, but chose to give us something more; something that changed strategy gaming and as sad as it may sound, my life, forever.
It's the only game from 1997 that I still play today. And even at 640x480 with 256bpp, the game still looks good. Not great of course, but good. The artists did excellent work with an amazing attention to detail. It really helped define that Blizzard polish we've come to expect these days. As fun as WarCraft 3 may be, we don't all have high end systems, and it doesn't take place in space, either.;)
...in my first and only journal entry. I'm sure it pretty much sums up everything most Slashdotters have to say about DMCA, MPAA, RIAA, and any other pretentious acronyms that I've forgotten.;)
so you can (!) use PNG to compress executable files or audio files or whatever, if you just feed them into the encoder as raw images.
That sounds really fun, but I can't fool any of my image programs into thinking, say, an EXE is a BMP by simply renaming them. Is there something special I need to do to get the program to believe the file is really a BMP? If that's not the case, do you know of any Windows software that this trick will work in?
I really have to wonder if Intel is doing this because of customer demand, or simply because they don't want AMD to have the upper hand.
From what I've seen, I would argue that their motive is the latter. Intel has show on several occasions that, these days, they simply don't give a damn about the end user. They care about market share, profits, and their precious stock price. Let's not forget the fact that "Pentium" was coined because Intel wasn't allowed to trademark the number 586.
Remember when they released an overclocked Pentium III to the public, and Tom's Hardware had that nice little article exposing it for the failure it was? It choked on GCC, among other things, while Intel steadfastly denied the problem. Then they actually recalled the processors. Competition at the expense of the end user... wonderful!
It is clear AMD is still going to come out on top in performance on this one, unless "software emulation" doesn't mean what I think it means. It is also clear to me that Intel has to do a lot more than throw some software emulation at an issue before I ever buy another Intel processor.
This is the absolute best GBA emulator out there. Yes, there is a Linux version. In fact, v1.5 was just released on the 13th. So go have fun. You need a GBA bios for some games to work properly so, here you go. Watch as a 14K file brings down CenturyTel's servers...;)
What a shocker this is... An article on Slashdot about Starship Sizes... why would that be Slashdotted?
I mean, it's not like it is the nerd version of a pissing contest... oh wait, it is.
Nerd1: The Enterprise-E could SO waste a Star Destroyer!
Nerd2: Nuh-uh! Star Destroyers are so huge, you can't even see the windows most of the time. You can ALWAYS see the windows in the puny little federation starships.
Nerd1: Look, I don't care how big it is... One quantam torpedo from the Enterprise-E will make it a giant space junkyard.
Nerd2: You're such a dork!
Nerd1: No, you're the dork!
[begin pathetic, uncoordinated nerd brawl]
So called "Winprinters" are the only trend in printers that really irks me.
It's annoying when I try to show off the wonders of Linux on a friend's computer, only to find out that the printer they've got is a nice heavy paperweight outside of the Windows world.
Well, with apologies to the Comedy Central comedian I stole this from...
"Ever read a magazine article and it says 'Continued on Page...' and you say, 'Well, not for me...' "
"Ever lose the remote control and have to watch some total crap for an hour? I mean, you could get up and change it, but if you're going to do that, you might as well look for the remote..."
Ever read a book and try to work it into casual conversation since you're so proud... like someone says 'Hi' and you go 'I READ A BOOK! 250 PAGES!' "
And how about a demotivator for you....
"Procrastination: Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now."
And then there's my sig, but it doesn't fit in here...
Slashdot Mirror
It's amazing the type of logic they use. For example, they cite the rampant piracy in the Asian market for the reason Phantom Menace performed lower than expected there. Didn't anyone stop to think that, perhaps, maybe they just figured out it wasn't a very good movie? ;)
I agree with everything you said, though... but MS has really got me by the balls when it comes to games.
At least Blizzard usually releases their games on Mac, but that's not enough for an addict like me! ;)
P.S. Anyone here have WC3 for Mac? What are your system specs and how well does it perform for you when there's a ton of units on screen?
By unauthorized I assume they mean copyrighted/illegal files. I think it's also safe to assume that while Kazaa has legal uses, it's primary use is trading copyrighted material. If this material is removed for non-paying users, we'll see a dramatic drops in the number of users.
As has happened in the past, with Napster for example, once one peer-to-peer program removes copyrighted files, there is a mass migration to new, alternative peer-to-peer system that does allow it.
As others have mentioned, I hope that the least Kazaa will do for paying customers is remove all the spyware.
Thanks man! You rock! :)
Well, for most of the college classes I took, the most useful electronic device I can think of would be a Game Boy Advance.
Hell, all I had was a cheap keychain with Tetris on it, but I swear by all things sacred that had I not been armed with that, the last vestiges of my sanity would have surely slipped away.
However, one thing has been kind of irking me lately: Is there any way I can get the "Open New Tab" button to appear in Firebird? I know I can just CTRL+T, but sometimes that's more awkward, especially if I already have my hand on the mouse.
OK, well, sorry for trying to get some cheap tech support here... heh. This article is pretty old, so I doubt anyone will read this anyway. But I would be really thankful for any help. :)
The world would be a sad, sad place without South Park. ;)
http://www.ussjoshua.org/bbaggins.mov
my mirror (same file, zipped)
The last time I checked, there were about 3 million users connected.
Why is this number so much lower? Obviously people in different time zones probably sign on at different times, but even considering that, the number seems low when compared to what download.com is reporting.
Is this a sign that perhaps a lot of people have trouble getting kazaa to work (firewalls, schools/ISPs blocking it, etc)?
I know The Numbers said they'd try to break down the earnings by day if they could, but it appears that they haven't yet.
So, basically, this opening figure could be exaggerated a little.
Yes, bitching works! As someone pointed out in the polls, if enough people piss and moan about something, well, it just might be changed! Hurray!
And I think this is great news. I don't really like Intel's stranglehold on the processor market, especially since AMD has processors that are equal if not better in most respects (the P4, with it's huge pipeline, sure takes a hit if it fails the branch prediction) but yet Intel is still considered the only "serious" choice to many people.
So, any company that has the balls of steel required to take on the microprocessor monopoly known as Intel, is an excellent company, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm glad they've been "OK'd" for this - it's a step in the right direction.
Terminator shows that technology itself is neither good nor bad. It is merely the use of it that makes it so. In the first movie, the Terminator attempts to destroy the future of the human race by killing the mother of its enemy. In the second, the same model terminator is reprogrammed to save the human race.
And another thing... In both the matrix, and Terminator... what's so bad about humans being wiped out or machines taking over control of them? Would this not be, in a sense, a form of natural selection? If machines were more fit than us to survive, and intelligent enough to exterminate us or control us, then don't they sort of deserve to take our place as the dominant form of life on this planet?
I think that a planet of machines would probably be a lot less self-destructive, and more productive, than the current one containing humans.
The machines in both the Matrix and the terminator movies want us controlled or exterminated for good reasons: we're a danger to ourselves, and everything on the planet.
"If a machine, a terminator, can learn the value of human life... maybe we can, too."
Probably not, which is why the machines are likely morally superior to us, and more worthy of the right to exist, even if they are "soulless" creations. Better that we humans die and our work live on, than we simply fade out of existence without a trace.
Seriously, this is probably the kind of DRM that MS would love to implement if they didn't know users would obviously revolt.
These days, when newbies ask what type of machine to get, I almost always respond Macintosh. They are user friendly in the sense that the OS doesn't barf every few months. If I recommend any brand of PC to a beginner, I just know I'm going to end up doing free tech support for them real soon, and real often, and only because MS simply refuses to produce quality software. They know they can get away with bug-ridden shit, and since they've been doing it for years, why stop now?
I mean, granted, it didn't really make me think too much... In fact, quite the opposite. And it wasn't really all that innovative... but rarely has so much been done right in an RTS. Blizzard could have opted for the original "orcs in space" style gameplay, but chose to give us something more; something that changed strategy gaming and as sad as it may sound, my life, forever.
It's the only game from 1997 that I still play today. And even at 640x480 with 256bpp, the game still looks good. Not great of course, but good. The artists did excellent work with an amazing attention to detail. It really helped define that Blizzard polish we've come to expect these days. As fun as WarCraft 3 may be, we don't all have high end systems, and it doesn't take place in space, either. ;)
http://slashdot.org/~mraymer/journal/
And if someone asks to see your ticket, you just say, "There is no ticket." ;)
That sounds really fun, but I can't fool any of my image programs into thinking, say, an EXE is a BMP by simply renaming them. Is there something special I need to do to get the program to believe the file is really a BMP? If that's not the case, do you know of any Windows software that this trick will work in?
Thanks.
There is no moon! ;)
From what I've seen, I would argue that their motive is the latter. Intel has show on several occasions that, these days, they simply don't give a damn about the end user. They care about market share, profits, and their precious stock price. Let's not forget the fact that "Pentium" was coined because Intel wasn't allowed to trademark the number 586.
Remember when they released an overclocked Pentium III to the public, and Tom's Hardware had that nice little article exposing it for the failure it was? It choked on GCC, among other things, while Intel steadfastly denied the problem. Then they actually recalled the processors. Competition at the expense of the end user... wonderful!
It is clear AMD is still going to come out on top in performance on this one, unless "software emulation" doesn't mean what I think it means. It is also clear to me that Intel has to do a lot more than throw some software emulation at an issue before I ever buy another Intel processor.
http://vboy.emuhq.com
This is the absolute best GBA emulator out there. Yes, there is a Linux version. In fact, v1.5 was just released on the 13th. So go have fun. You need a GBA bios for some games to work properly so, here you go. Watch as a 14K file brings down CenturyTel's servers... ;)
I mean, it's not like it is the nerd version of a pissing contest... oh wait, it is.
Nerd1: The Enterprise-E could SO waste a Star Destroyer!
Nerd2: Nuh-uh! Star Destroyers are so huge, you can't even see the windows most of the time. You can ALWAYS see the windows in the puny little federation starships.
Nerd1: Look, I don't care how big it is... One quantam torpedo from the Enterprise-E will make it a giant space junkyard.
Nerd2: You're such a dork!
Nerd1: No, you're the dork!
[begin pathetic, uncoordinated nerd brawl]
It's annoying when I try to show off the wonders of Linux on a friend's computer, only to find out that the printer they've got is a nice heavy paperweight outside of the Windows world.
Look, messing with the name of a job doesn't really serve any logical point.
If you're a janitor or a custodian, you still have to clean shit up off the floor when some idiot plugs the toilet.
If you're a sysadmin or a "CIS" whatever, you still have to keep computers running and deal with the occasional lusers.
How does changing the name make any difference?
"Ever read a magazine article and it says 'Continued on Page...' and you say, 'Well, not for me...' "
"Ever lose the remote control and have to watch some total crap for an hour? I mean, you could get up and change it, but if you're going to do that, you might as well look for the remote..."
Ever read a book and try to work it into casual conversation since you're so proud... like someone says 'Hi' and you go 'I READ A BOOK! 250 PAGES!' "
And how about a demotivator for you.... "Procrastination: Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now."
And then there's my sig, but it doesn't fit in here...