"A slashdot user that doesn't know how to change default programs?"
XP has some feature that tries to take an educated guess at what disc you have loaded is, and tries to run something that'll use it. So, it detects a DVD, and it shows me a list of what apps can play DVDs. I picked PowerDVD, and Real still comes up. I could probably figure it out, just haven't been bothered. Just relocated to California, life's busy. It is really LAME, though, that Real messed it up that bad.
Like the 'scientist' that claimed that when Nasa crashed a nuclear powered probe into Jupiter, it'd ignite and become another sun in this solar system? I caught that one, pretty damned amusing. I'm sure a few people thought the following Sunday was going to roll around and we'd see a bright flash in the sky and we'd all die. Heh.
"I would MUCH rather download what I want, when I want, rather than wait for it to show up on TV, surrounded by brain-rot commercials."
Do you have Comcast in your area? If so, check and see if they have digital cable + video on demand. It's not everywhere, but if you can get it, it should satisfy your desires here. I had it in Portland, and it was so COOL being able to watch an entire season of shows sans commercials. Movies on demand was pretty slick too. It was kind of like having an off-site TiVo. The catch is their selection isn't as broad as I'd like. Here's hoping in the next year or two it's a.) more widely deployed and b.) the selection really grows.
If you can't get it, well sorry hehe. But it's worth keeping an eye on, no?
Agreed. Real even took over my dvd playing ability. WTF? I never said they could do that! Not even sure how to get it back.
"These big-time websites still insist on using it, and the only reason must be because of the damn built-in DRM."
DRM DRM DRM!! BAD BAD BAD!! Actually it probably has to do with being able to play the videos. That's a huge problem on the net, and Real isn't bad about being consistent. Tell somebody to install a viewer, and blammo you're ready to go. Windows Media Player would probably have been a better choice... but who knows what politics were going on there.
"Sure the pro ones can claim all kinds of features that are barely more than excuses to use patents,"
Huh? What features are you talking about? I ask because if you go back and forth between MAX, Maya, and Lightwave, there's very little you don't get. Usually the big difference is in implementation, can't say I know anything about the 'excuses to use patents' bit.
As for 'claiming all kinds of features'... what exactly is your motivating thought behind that comment? The last 3 releases of Maya, 3D Studio MAX, and Lightwave (probably true for XSI as well, but I have not followed it) have all had impressive features that made the creation of quality 3D art easier to do. You claim that povray's renderer is 'second to none'. Well I honestly can't tell you where it stands as I haven't used it. I can tell you, though, that these days the big bottleneck is the artist, not the engine moving the pixels around. 'Features' are a big part of making sure an artist can express themselves. If the interface is getting in your way, then the renderer isn't doing you a lick of good.
I have NFI why anybody'd dismiss 'software for the pros' so easily.
Re:Benchmarking early linux with POVRay
on
POV-Ray 3.6 Released
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· Score: 1, Insightful
"Linux was 3 times faster on the same machine."
Yeah if that result was typical, most of us 3D artists wouldn't be using Windows 2000.
"Seriously, I would easily pay $10 or $20 to see some of this stuff. This is probably the best chance an existing computer museum has to get a piece of console history in one fell swoop."
Hmm.. well I'd pay a banner ad or two and settle for a few digital pictures.
"I'm sorry, but when you ask for that much money for ANYTHING, you can not make yourself look like a first grade jackass."
I'm getting rather tired of using spelling as an IQ test. You just called somebody who probably doesn't speak english natively (which means they took a LOT of time to learn it. I bet you don't know Chinese.) as sounding like a 'first grade jackass' because he didn't spell a few words right. Big surprise some of us Americans have negative stereotypes.
"Same boat here. I actually timed the commercials at over 20 minutes at one of the last movies I was at."
A theater in Portland was recently sued for that. Sadly, I don't remember the details, but I do remember a sharp decline in the number of commercials in the beginning. It's at the 10 minute mark.
I'd be less annoyed by the commercials if they kept the lights a bit brighter so I could creep in about 10 minutes after the movie's about to start.
"How about something to prevent duplicate articles?"
I find it interesting that people who complain about dupes keep repeating it over and over again. Maybe you guys should get your own system in place first before you complain about the negligible impact Slashdot is having on your lives by repeating a story here and there.
Slashdot Mirror
"The key development of the cloak, however, was the development of a new material called retro-reflectum."
In order to get rid of that dumb joke once and for all, we changed its name to retro-refanus.
"the story of the emperor's new clothes is not going to make any sense at all to our children."
:( Oh well, at least we're not prone to breeding.
And Harry Potter won't be so amazing.
"A slashdot user that doesn't know how to change default programs?"
XP has some feature that tries to take an educated guess at what disc you have loaded is, and tries to run something that'll use it. So, it detects a DVD, and it shows me a list of what apps can play DVDs. I picked PowerDVD, and Real still comes up. I could probably figure it out, just haven't been bothered. Just relocated to California, life's busy. It is really LAME, though, that Real messed it up that bad.
"Is that 5GB in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
You think 5 gigs is impressing? Just wait until I unzip.
"Which is just what doesn't have to be described in a patent filing."
That is not true. You have to be able to prove that it works. I can't patent time travel until I modify a Delorean.
"Wouldn't that 100GB?"
No, they're talking about a Zip drive. Slashdot's just a little slow on reporting current news.
"Obviously a lot of it is annoying rubish"
Like the 'scientist' that claimed that when Nasa crashed a nuclear powered probe into Jupiter, it'd ignite and become another sun in this solar system? I caught that one, pretty damned amusing. I'm sure a few people thought the following Sunday was going to roll around and we'd see a bright flash in the sky and we'd all die. Heh.
"what part of a proximity card with incorporated PIN code isn't so obvious and apparent to the average engineer that it should qualify for a patent?"
The implementation.
" personal privacy would be safer.'
No it wouldn't. It's not an invention to tear away privacy, it's an invention to solve a need. If it goes, something takes its place.
"I would MUCH rather download what I want, when I want, rather than wait for it to show up on TV, surrounded by brain-rot commercials."
Do you have Comcast in your area? If so, check and see if they have digital cable + video on demand. It's not everywhere, but if you can get it, it should satisfy your desires here. I had it in Portland, and it was so COOL being able to watch an entire season of shows sans commercials. Movies on demand was pretty slick too. It was kind of like having an off-site TiVo. The catch is their selection isn't as broad as I'd like. Here's hoping in the next year or two it's a.) more widely deployed and b.) the selection really grows.
If you can't get it, well sorry hehe. But it's worth keeping an eye on, no?
"Ok so if I'm paying $13/month for this service, why not pay $13/month for Starz (and HBO for that matter)."
Ask the people who are downloading movies off of Kazaa right now.
"Going from $8 per view to $13 per month certainly looks like a step in the right direction."
It would also turn a lot of heads away from Kazaa. Faster download, easier interface I assume... Heck I might try it later this evening.
"Real is an absolute joke."
Agreed. Real even took over my dvd playing ability. WTF? I never said they could do that! Not even sure how to get it back.
"These big-time websites still insist on using it, and the only reason must be because of the damn built-in DRM."
DRM DRM DRM!! BAD BAD BAD!! Actually it probably has to do with being able to play the videos. That's a huge problem on the net, and Real isn't bad about being consistent. Tell somebody to install a viewer, and blammo you're ready to go. Windows Media Player would probably have been a better choice... but who knows what politics were going on there.
"Sure the pro ones can claim all kinds of features that are barely more than excuses to use patents,"
Huh? What features are you talking about? I ask because if you go back and forth between MAX, Maya, and Lightwave, there's very little you don't get. Usually the big difference is in implementation, can't say I know anything about the 'excuses to use patents' bit.
As for 'claiming all kinds of features'... what exactly is your motivating thought behind that comment? The last 3 releases of Maya, 3D Studio MAX, and Lightwave (probably true for XSI as well, but I have not followed it) have all had impressive features that made the creation of quality 3D art easier to do. You claim that povray's renderer is 'second to none'. Well I honestly can't tell you where it stands as I haven't used it. I can tell you, though, that these days the big bottleneck is the artist, not the engine moving the pixels around. 'Features' are a big part of making sure an artist can express themselves. If the interface is getting in your way, then the renderer isn't doing you a lick of good.
I have NFI why anybody'd dismiss 'software for the pros' so easily.
"Linux was 3 times faster on the same machine."
Yeah if that result was typical, most of us 3D artists wouldn't be using Windows 2000.
"Seriously, I would easily pay $10 or $20 to see some of this stuff. This is probably the best chance an existing computer museum has to get a piece of console history in one fell swoop."
Hmm.. well I'd pay a banner ad or two and settle for a few digital pictures.
"I'm sorry, but when you ask for that much money for ANYTHING, you can not make yourself look like a first grade jackass."
I'm getting rather tired of using spelling as an IQ test. You just called somebody who probably doesn't speak english natively (which means they took a LOT of time to learn it. I bet you don't know Chinese.) as sounding like a 'first grade jackass' because he didn't spell a few words right. Big surprise some of us Americans have negative stereotypes.
" But if someone does bid on it, hey, $100000 is a pretty nice chunk of change."
He has all this stuff and he found a wife? Are ya sure he's not trying to sell it so he can rent one?
"I wish my bank offered Bonking services - maybe I wouldn't moan about their monthly fees if they did."
Try US Bank. I'd go into more detail, but can't sit any longer.
"good lord, who actually needs all that stuff?"
Who actually needs any stuff? People take an interest and they acquire stuff, bfd.
"Don't forget "Impressive, but does it run linux?" The answer is actually yes for some of them."
The real question is "So what cool stuff are they running on Linux for those consoles?"
"Same boat here. I actually timed the commercials at over 20 minutes at one of the last movies I was at."
A theater in Portland was recently sued for that. Sadly, I don't remember the details, but I do remember a sharp decline in the number of commercials in the beginning. It's at the 10 minute mark.
I'd be less annoyed by the commercials if they kept the lights a bit brighter so I could creep in about 10 minutes after the movie's about to start.
"...and what makes you think they wouldn't do both?"
Competition from Microsoft's instant messenger? Whoah, bet you didn't see that coming.
"How about something to prevent duplicate articles?"
I find it interesting that people who complain about dupes keep repeating it over and over again. Maybe you guys should get your own system in place first before you complain about the negligible impact Slashdot is having on your lives by repeating a story here and there.
"Is the version without this feature, the Sharp Actius R2D2?"
Troll? That wasn't the funniest post ever, but it wasn't malicious either.