Flash/No Flash
on
iPad Review
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I recently tried to convert my main work laptop to Ubuntu, I spent a good 2 months using it before going back to Windows 7. My laptop is designed somewhat poorly in that it's heat sinks are in the armrest before the keyboard. One thing I noticed about the Linux version of flash is how CPU hungry it is, simple sites like Youtube, or any site with flash video playback would consume an entire core on my laptop. I spent some time researching why and everything I've seen so far indicates that Adobe has just implemented it poorly on Linux. Some posts indicate its implemented just as poorly on OSX, using WAY more CPU than it does on Windows. So while in Linux not only would my laptop get hot, but it would kill it's battery in a heartbeat. Considering these poor implementations I can understand why Apple has taken the stance it has against flash. Using flash or not isn't a deal breaker when it comes to the web for me, but I found it EXTREMELY annoying under Linux. I think it's actually a good thing that Apple is pushing more for alternatives away from flash.
While I can understand trying to make things "scientific" and being as accurate as possible, but at the same time it doesn't have to be accurate to inspire imagination. I know I grew up watching Star Trek, both the original series and later TNG. While later I became aware of a lot of the inaccuracies and "techno babble" that was spouted on the show, it did a whole lot to inspire my imagination and get me interested in a lot of areas. I think that was Gene Roddenberry's original plan/goal with the show anyway, to inspire the imagination and reach for the stars.
Sometimes us as geeks forget that.
Isnt that redudant, using an gasoline turbine to power an electric motor? I mean you're converting Gas into electricity via the turbine, then converting the electricity into kinetic energy via the electric engine. Wouldnt it be more efficent to have a gas motor power the remote control vechicle?
Patriotism has served its purpose, but maybe internet gaming will bring about a new sense of humanism which I personally believe is the next evolution of patiotism. We must realize that regardless of our nationality, race, sexual preference, etc, in the end we are all humans and we must treat each other as such. If it takes the virtual world of a computer game for us to realize this then so be it. I see this as the evolution Man's thinking rather than a step backwards.
I'm not discounting patriotism, but I do believe that is an old mindset that as we grow more connected as a human species will have to go away like so many mindsets of the past have.
To those who are skeptical about the controller changing must not have been involved with games too long. I remember the first time I was shown the 'wasd' keyboard layout. This seemed awkward to me considering I had been playing with the arrow keys for so long. However when an arrow key guy came across a wasd+mouse combo he didnt stand a chance. I got to see and participate in this standard changing the face of first person shooters. Now it has become a standard and everyone knows no different (save a few non-gamers). But I see the same thing coming with the Wii controller. If it is done properly in 5 years we all might be wondering how we played games with a standard controller (at least certain type of games).
I somewhat agree with what this article is trying to say. However, I think a bigger problem might be all the smaller pieces that fit together to make Linux work. For example just to compile a program properly you need the compiler program, the shared libraries the program requires, the environment set properly, and all the archiving/dearchving tools. Now for a new user he may have "RTFM"'d the manual to the software he's trying to compile, and most manuals say which shared library he needs, however most manuals fail to mention that a compiler is needed. So the user can find out this information fairly easy by doing some google searches and gets his compiler, and while he's web browsing updates his shared libraries. Now he tries to compile again with another failure this time the error message is pretty vague and if he asks in a chat channel and gets the snob repsonse this can be frustrating. Come to find out the problem is in his environment variables and he finally fixes them and now he can finally just 'compile' the open source program he downloaded. Now... if the user were to read every 'manual' about the compiler involved, the shared libraries, how to setup the environment and the software he's trying to compile he'd take a week just to get himself setup to install an opensource program. Granted every program after that will go much quicker, it still is a lot if I'm Mr. Average Joe trying to learn linux. Then when the snob attitude kicks in thats icing on the cake.
I hope that their pricing scheme really suits the gamer. I mean I wouldnt mind paying a monthly fee for unlimited access to these downloads. For example: $10/month unlimited access to all the old content (so far announced NES, SNES, Genesis, Turbo-Graphix16, and N64).
But if they arent going to allow a monthly fee subscription based service and charge per download I hope they use a model similar to iTunes. For example: $0.99 for NES games, $1.50-$2.50 for SNES/Genesis games, $2.50-$5.00 for N64 games. I hope the price of a game doesnt exceed $5.00, if it does it may get really expensive to own the classics that you desire.
Remember most people who REALLY are fanatics about those games want the original for nostalgic purposes, and are usually willing to pay a lot more. Casual players may not be willing to pay a lot for this type of service.
This a problem with the modern university system. Most people would agree that they learn better in smaller classrooms where the teacher/professor actually learns your name and has some sort of relationship with you. In the modern college/university system classes are packed in lecture halls, then in labs the professor isnt actually there but one of his aids. This is accepted in modern universities and people like the parent poster wants to keep it that way. Colleges are a business in today's world, the professors are nothing more than consultants on a mass scale. Do they work, sure they do, could they be better, yes they can. Do not close your mind to new ways of learning, and the teacher is just as responsible for this as the student. If I'm paying a consultant I expect results, in the college world I expect results too, granted I also expect 75-80% of the results to come from me but the teacher needs to give some effort.
Also for what its worth the original article I think the teacher is doing the right thing. She's trying to help the students learn, and to maintain some sort of relationship with the students. I would agree that they distract from what is going on. As a matter of fact, in college and in my career today I rarely take notes or bring PDA's/Laptops with me to meetings. Today the only notes I take are phone numbers/contact information if the person doesnt have a business card. The reason for this is I can stay 100% focused on what the person is talking about. Do I remember 100%, not always especially long term, but I find that overall I remember more by focusing in on the conversation rather than trying to transcribe it. I also personally believe people who rely on notes are bound by that and are lost without them.
Just my 2c.
First of all, I am under the belief that it is NOT the governments job to tell us what we can and cannot see. I do not care what it is, the government should take no part in forcing its citizens to look at one topic vs another. Secondly, us as adults and responsible human beings need to start taking responsibility for things and not wait for father government to step in and tell us how to think. It is YOUR responsibility has an adult to view what you want to and if you come across something offensive how hard is it to hit your 'back button' on your browser? If you have children, it is still YOUR responsbility to censor what you find offensive so your children do not run into it.
Ugh, the more and more we fall into this mentality of relying on our government the more and more we let our freedoms and rights slip through our fingers. Please people start thinking for yourselves, and be not afraid of public opinion or the governments opinion.
Yeah I definately can see that happening, also with the capabilities of the Xbox Live system, Instant Messaging/Voice chat is starting to become mainstream in and out of games. I could see consoles becoming a good way to keep in touch with your friends online or at least your gaming friends. The new 360 Xbox Live is becoming sort of a myspace for gamers. They have online profiles, it keeps track of awards and "high scores", and others can view your profile. You have a friends list and everything.
The dreamcast tried to integrate a web browser into their system (was a seperate CD), but I think they were about 5-10 years too early with it. Broadband wasnt as common as it is today, and things like wireless has made the web pretty much accessable anywhere. Today a web browser in a console might be more successful, but I believe it would have to be on a high def console/monitor capable (computer resolutions). Most web pages are designed to be viewed in at least 800x600 res which is a lot higher than standard TV. When it starts compromising for TV, the pages become really difficult to read.
I agree balance is an issue you would have to address. But I think it could be done fairly easily. I would agree with first person shooters using a controller vs keyboard/mouse combo the keyboard/mouse will win. However all that needs to be done is support a keyboard/mouse setup in the FPS games. I know both the PS2 and the XBox 360 support USB Keyboards, and the same can be done with mouse as well. So there the playing field evens, if the player is willing to spend the extra money in doing that (~$50). Also in the fighting game genre the PC player with a keyboard/mouse is at a disadvantage I would agree once again, but again a USB controller is easy to pick up (~$20).
If the gameplay mechanics are the same, then really the PC version would be the only one with the possible disadvantage. The reason I say this is because if his hardware isnt up to snuff then its likely to lag or be slow at times. If this is the case the user should either upgrade his PC or bite the bullet and get a console system. It will depend for each player, and this is why I say there should be a unified multiplayer system, each person is different and will buy one thing over another for various reasons, it would be nice to not worry about who they can play what game with.
With these new Next-gen sytems coming out their prices have taken a huge hike. $300-$400 for an Xbox360, estimated $500 for the PS3, granted the revolution is making a statement with their system estimated to go for $150 starting. However, there are many cross platform games. As a game developer unless you are getting huge incentives from Microsoft or Sony it only makes sense to build your game cross platform. A lot of games even have PC versions. With that said, we are starting to segment the multiplayer market. The PC multiplayer games have their own servers or server list environment. The Xbox has its Xbox Live which is not compatible with the PC multiplayer version, and finally we now have a Sony network which for obvious reasons is going to be incompatable with Xbox and probably the PC network as well. I'd like to see a cross-platform network, allowing the features of Xbox Live and/or Sony, but work for all the systems including Nintendo revolution. I would even be willing to pay for such a service. I've got friends who cannot aford the latest and greatest PC, and they really cannot afford the current prices of the console systems, but those are expected to go down at some point. To be able to play the latest games with them, with me on my home PC and them on their 360 or PS3 would be fantastic. But of course everyone is trying to dominate the market with their system and network.
I would agree that Blizzard needs to be tough with cheaters. With that said, however, if I were him I would be demanding to see this "evidence" against him. If I were him and if I could get this "evidence" from Blizzard and everything that I've posted on the web and forums is true I would then publically post the evidence and prove my case. I still think its wrong that someone can invest over 300 euros for a product and then be denied access to that product with no explanation as to why. I do not find Blizzards responses appropriate if they are the true responses, I would be demanding answers, if I did not get the answers I would do everything in my power (legally) to boycott Blizzard. Keep in mind that this is just a game, however it has a lot of value to people because it is an expensive habit and it has a lot of social value. I'm sure if he somehow got banned from a single player game he probably wouldnt be complaining about it, its the social aspect of multiplayer games that makes people obsessive about it.
I think it would be interesting to take this form factor and build a robot out of it. With the full blown Windows OS on there development should be fairly simple, and with interfaces such as USB or Bluetooth the possbilities for using this as the "brains" of a robot would be fairly large.
This is one of the major problems I have when working in a corperate environment. I understand all the rules about having a clean work area, and looking like you are busy when the big wig comes trotting through. But to me this once again is setting up a false image. That is what we live in today a world of false images. Nobody is perfect and its ashame that we are so pompas that we believe if we arent perfect we should at least act like we are perfect.
Here is the way I look at it. If the guy was truely playing Solitare during his work hours then there is a problem, maybe with the employee but mostly a problem with management. Lets say for example that he's banned from playing solitare, if he isnt managed correctly do you honestly believe he isnt going to find something else to waste his time with. If I walked into a place and a worker was playing solitare I would question the management before the worker.
He can try to charge for VOIP, but as soon as he starts, thats when more innovation will go into beating his detection methods. Such as encrypting the call, tunneling through other protocols, etc. I understand that VOIP is very latency sensitive, and every layer we put on top of it could possibly lower the quality of the call, but I still believe we can achieve better quality than cell-phone while encrypting the information. The real question will be, will the US Government support him in his desire to charge. I guess it will be interesting to see, hopefully other companies like Vonage will step in and work against him.
In my opinion we should look at mining the astroid belt in our solar system before attempting mars. There are going to be plenty of resources there, which will be much easier to send back given we dont have to contend a huge gravitational force like a planet. Not to mention we know so little about mars we dont know what kind of natural things we might be interrupting by mining it.
Problem with this is that people would figure out how to scam collecting all those.001 dollars without resuing them. And how would you convense the world the follow the same rules? Nice idea but I dont think its that practical in today's world.
So far having VOIP LAN line for 6 months I can say the service is 10x better than Cell phone service. And yet every day people rely on their cell phones to do things like dial 911.
I think the numbers are very promising for a reletively new technology. But like any technology it requires time to mature and find its place in the world.
I agree with this comment, however I think what will happen is the general masses will still be wooed by pretty graphics and colors regardless of gameplay or controls. Most computer people, regardless of whether they are a game developer or not are overworked. It seems to have fit the trade, and is accepted by most people in the trade.
However its not all doom and gloom for the gaming industry. There is still freelance work going on out there, as well as smaller companies who work under an ideal, not just for $$. This to me reminds me a lot of some of the film festivals out there. Yes sometimes we get great stuff from amateur work, and sometimes its crap, but the industry is segragating itself now. It seems to happen in all the entertainment industries. Music, Movies, and now Games are heading in that direction. You will have your pop games (ala World of Warcraft), and then you will have your feelance/amateur stuff that could be good or bad.
This is the world we live in unfortunately.
What is interesting about this article is that it states it runs off a second alternator that has to be added to the car. If this is the case then there will be an additional load on the car engine. If the load is less than normal car AC units and the amount of cooling power is the same, then the kids are right it will save gas milage. However how they tested that is not listed, will be interesting to watch though. Congrats to the kids.
I have to wonder, you can go into any backwater fleamarket and find lots of copyrighted material for sale. In Chinatown in NYC you walk on the streets and buy DVDs of movies that havent been released yet. But all of a sudden the internet hits and all of this illegal sharing becomes trackable. Now the *AA's have an idea on how bad this stuff is. Even if they win and illegal internet activity is put to a stop, I think there will still be thousands if not millions of people who participate in illegal copyright enfringement, it will just move to another place that cant be tracked so easily.
I like the idea of reducing the number of devices, the question in my mind is can it do those things simultanously. If not then there will always be a need for multiple devices just for the sake of multitasking. I'm not saying I want to listen to music while on the phone. But I would sure like to browse the web while on the phone, or check email. I definately would want to receive calls while browsing the web, which a lot of phones these days dont do, its one of the other not both. If they could make a device with A LOT of storage, plays MP3s, does email/web browsing, while the phone was running I would be one of the first in line.
I've thought about attempting something like this in the past. My biggest gripe is that I'm not aware of any simulator that would allow multiple screens with multiple points of view. If I did something like this I would want to put a screen on each window so it felt like it surrounded me. To me just doing the front windshield with a display is no better than an arcade machine.
I understand its just really neat to build this on your own, but I'd want a little more out of it than what I could get by playing in an arcade.
Slashdot Mirror
So BP has been in space all this time?
I recently tried to convert my main work laptop to Ubuntu, I spent a good 2 months using it before going back to Windows 7. My laptop is designed somewhat poorly in that it's heat sinks are in the armrest before the keyboard. One thing I noticed about the Linux version of flash is how CPU hungry it is, simple sites like Youtube, or any site with flash video playback would consume an entire core on my laptop. I spent some time researching why and everything I've seen so far indicates that Adobe has just implemented it poorly on Linux. Some posts indicate its implemented just as poorly on OSX, using WAY more CPU than it does on Windows. So while in Linux not only would my laptop get hot, but it would kill it's battery in a heartbeat. Considering these poor implementations I can understand why Apple has taken the stance it has against flash. Using flash or not isn't a deal breaker when it comes to the web for me, but I found it EXTREMELY annoying under Linux. I think it's actually a good thing that Apple is pushing more for alternatives away from flash.
While I can understand trying to make things "scientific" and being as accurate as possible, but at the same time it doesn't have to be accurate to inspire imagination. I know I grew up watching Star Trek, both the original series and later TNG. While later I became aware of a lot of the inaccuracies and "techno babble" that was spouted on the show, it did a whole lot to inspire my imagination and get me interested in a lot of areas. I think that was Gene Roddenberry's original plan/goal with the show anyway, to inspire the imagination and reach for the stars. Sometimes us as geeks forget that.
Isnt that redudant, using an gasoline turbine to power an electric motor? I mean you're converting Gas into electricity via the turbine, then converting the electricity into kinetic energy via the electric engine. Wouldnt it be more efficent to have a gas motor power the remote control vechicle?
Patriotism has served its purpose, but maybe internet gaming will bring about a new sense of humanism which I personally believe is the next evolution of patiotism. We must realize that regardless of our nationality, race, sexual preference, etc, in the end we are all humans and we must treat each other as such. If it takes the virtual world of a computer game for us to realize this then so be it. I see this as the evolution Man's thinking rather than a step backwards.
I'm not discounting patriotism, but I do believe that is an old mindset that as we grow more connected as a human species will have to go away like so many mindsets of the past have.
To those who are skeptical about the controller changing must not have been involved with games too long. I remember the first time I was shown the 'wasd' keyboard layout. This seemed awkward to me considering I had been playing with the arrow keys for so long. However when an arrow key guy came across a wasd+mouse combo he didnt stand a chance. I got to see and participate in this standard changing the face of first person shooters. Now it has become a standard and everyone knows no different (save a few non-gamers). But I see the same thing coming with the Wii controller. If it is done properly in 5 years we all might be wondering how we played games with a standard controller (at least certain type of games).
I somewhat agree with what this article is trying to say. However, I think a bigger problem might be all the smaller pieces that fit together to make Linux work. For example just to compile a program properly you need the compiler program, the shared libraries the program requires, the environment set properly, and all the archiving/dearchving tools. Now for a new user he may have "RTFM"'d the manual to the software he's trying to compile, and most manuals say which shared library he needs, however most manuals fail to mention that a compiler is needed. So the user can find out this information fairly easy by doing some google searches and gets his compiler, and while he's web browsing updates his shared libraries. Now he tries to compile again with another failure this time the error message is pretty vague and if he asks in a chat channel and gets the snob repsonse this can be frustrating. Come to find out the problem is in his environment variables and he finally fixes them and now he can finally just 'compile' the open source program he downloaded. Now... if the user were to read every 'manual' about the compiler involved, the shared libraries, how to setup the environment and the software he's trying to compile he'd take a week just to get himself setup to install an opensource program. Granted every program after that will go much quicker, it still is a lot if I'm Mr. Average Joe trying to learn linux. Then when the snob attitude kicks in thats icing on the cake.
I hope that their pricing scheme really suits the gamer. I mean I wouldnt mind paying a monthly fee for unlimited access to these downloads. For example: $10/month unlimited access to all the old content (so far announced NES, SNES, Genesis, Turbo-Graphix16, and N64).
But if they arent going to allow a monthly fee subscription based service and charge per download I hope they use a model similar to iTunes. For example: $0.99 for NES games, $1.50-$2.50 for SNES/Genesis games, $2.50-$5.00 for N64 games. I hope the price of a game doesnt exceed $5.00, if it does it may get really expensive to own the classics that you desire.
Remember most people who REALLY are fanatics about those games want the original for nostalgic purposes, and are usually willing to pay a lot more. Casual players may not be willing to pay a lot for this type of service.
This a problem with the modern university system. Most people would agree that they learn better in smaller classrooms where the teacher/professor actually learns your name and has some sort of relationship with you. In the modern college/university system classes are packed in lecture halls, then in labs the professor isnt actually there but one of his aids. This is accepted in modern universities and people like the parent poster wants to keep it that way. Colleges are a business in today's world, the professors are nothing more than consultants on a mass scale. Do they work, sure they do, could they be better, yes they can. Do not close your mind to new ways of learning, and the teacher is just as responsible for this as the student. If I'm paying a consultant I expect results, in the college world I expect results too, granted I also expect 75-80% of the results to come from me but the teacher needs to give some effort. Also for what its worth the original article I think the teacher is doing the right thing. She's trying to help the students learn, and to maintain some sort of relationship with the students. I would agree that they distract from what is going on. As a matter of fact, in college and in my career today I rarely take notes or bring PDA's/Laptops with me to meetings. Today the only notes I take are phone numbers/contact information if the person doesnt have a business card. The reason for this is I can stay 100% focused on what the person is talking about. Do I remember 100%, not always especially long term, but I find that overall I remember more by focusing in on the conversation rather than trying to transcribe it. I also personally believe people who rely on notes are bound by that and are lost without them. Just my 2c.
First of all, I am under the belief that it is NOT the governments job to tell us what we can and cannot see. I do not care what it is, the government should take no part in forcing its citizens to look at one topic vs another. Secondly, us as adults and responsible human beings need to start taking responsibility for things and not wait for father government to step in and tell us how to think. It is YOUR responsibility has an adult to view what you want to and if you come across something offensive how hard is it to hit your 'back button' on your browser? If you have children, it is still YOUR responsbility to censor what you find offensive so your children do not run into it.
Ugh, the more and more we fall into this mentality of relying on our government the more and more we let our freedoms and rights slip through our fingers. Please people start thinking for yourselves, and be not afraid of public opinion or the governments opinion.
Yeah I definately can see that happening, also with the capabilities of the Xbox Live system, Instant Messaging/Voice chat is starting to become mainstream in and out of games. I could see consoles becoming a good way to keep in touch with your friends online or at least your gaming friends. The new 360 Xbox Live is becoming sort of a myspace for gamers. They have online profiles, it keeps track of awards and "high scores", and others can view your profile. You have a friends list and everything. The dreamcast tried to integrate a web browser into their system (was a seperate CD), but I think they were about 5-10 years too early with it. Broadband wasnt as common as it is today, and things like wireless has made the web pretty much accessable anywhere. Today a web browser in a console might be more successful, but I believe it would have to be on a high def console/monitor capable (computer resolutions). Most web pages are designed to be viewed in at least 800x600 res which is a lot higher than standard TV. When it starts compromising for TV, the pages become really difficult to read.
I agree balance is an issue you would have to address. But I think it could be done fairly easily. I would agree with first person shooters using a controller vs keyboard/mouse combo the keyboard/mouse will win. However all that needs to be done is support a keyboard/mouse setup in the FPS games. I know both the PS2 and the XBox 360 support USB Keyboards, and the same can be done with mouse as well. So there the playing field evens, if the player is willing to spend the extra money in doing that (~$50). Also in the fighting game genre the PC player with a keyboard/mouse is at a disadvantage I would agree once again, but again a USB controller is easy to pick up (~$20). If the gameplay mechanics are the same, then really the PC version would be the only one with the possible disadvantage. The reason I say this is because if his hardware isnt up to snuff then its likely to lag or be slow at times. If this is the case the user should either upgrade his PC or bite the bullet and get a console system. It will depend for each player, and this is why I say there should be a unified multiplayer system, each person is different and will buy one thing over another for various reasons, it would be nice to not worry about who they can play what game with.
With these new Next-gen sytems coming out their prices have taken a huge hike. $300-$400 for an Xbox360, estimated $500 for the PS3, granted the revolution is making a statement with their system estimated to go for $150 starting. However, there are many cross platform games. As a game developer unless you are getting huge incentives from Microsoft or Sony it only makes sense to build your game cross platform. A lot of games even have PC versions. With that said, we are starting to segment the multiplayer market. The PC multiplayer games have their own servers or server list environment. The Xbox has its Xbox Live which is not compatible with the PC multiplayer version, and finally we now have a Sony network which for obvious reasons is going to be incompatable with Xbox and probably the PC network as well. I'd like to see a cross-platform network, allowing the features of Xbox Live and/or Sony, but work for all the systems including Nintendo revolution. I would even be willing to pay for such a service. I've got friends who cannot aford the latest and greatest PC, and they really cannot afford the current prices of the console systems, but those are expected to go down at some point. To be able to play the latest games with them, with me on my home PC and them on their 360 or PS3 would be fantastic. But of course everyone is trying to dominate the market with their system and network.
I would agree that Blizzard needs to be tough with cheaters. With that said, however, if I were him I would be demanding to see this "evidence" against him. If I were him and if I could get this "evidence" from Blizzard and everything that I've posted on the web and forums is true I would then publically post the evidence and prove my case. I still think its wrong that someone can invest over 300 euros for a product and then be denied access to that product with no explanation as to why. I do not find Blizzards responses appropriate if they are the true responses, I would be demanding answers, if I did not get the answers I would do everything in my power (legally) to boycott Blizzard. Keep in mind that this is just a game, however it has a lot of value to people because it is an expensive habit and it has a lot of social value. I'm sure if he somehow got banned from a single player game he probably wouldnt be complaining about it, its the social aspect of multiplayer games that makes people obsessive about it.
I think it would be interesting to take this form factor and build a robot out of it. With the full blown Windows OS on there development should be fairly simple, and with interfaces such as USB or Bluetooth the possbilities for using this as the "brains" of a robot would be fairly large.
This is one of the major problems I have when working in a corperate environment. I understand all the rules about having a clean work area, and looking like you are busy when the big wig comes trotting through. But to me this once again is setting up a false image. That is what we live in today a world of false images. Nobody is perfect and its ashame that we are so pompas that we believe if we arent perfect we should at least act like we are perfect. Here is the way I look at it. If the guy was truely playing Solitare during his work hours then there is a problem, maybe with the employee but mostly a problem with management. Lets say for example that he's banned from playing solitare, if he isnt managed correctly do you honestly believe he isnt going to find something else to waste his time with. If I walked into a place and a worker was playing solitare I would question the management before the worker.
He can try to charge for VOIP, but as soon as he starts, thats when more innovation will go into beating his detection methods. Such as encrypting the call, tunneling through other protocols, etc. I understand that VOIP is very latency sensitive, and every layer we put on top of it could possibly lower the quality of the call, but I still believe we can achieve better quality than cell-phone while encrypting the information. The real question will be, will the US Government support him in his desire to charge. I guess it will be interesting to see, hopefully other companies like Vonage will step in and work against him.
In my opinion we should look at mining the astroid belt in our solar system before attempting mars. There are going to be plenty of resources there, which will be much easier to send back given we dont have to contend a huge gravitational force like a planet. Not to mention we know so little about mars we dont know what kind of natural things we might be interrupting by mining it.
Problem with this is that people would figure out how to scam collecting all those .001 dollars without resuing them. And how would you convense the world the follow the same rules? Nice idea but I dont think its that practical in today's world.
So far having VOIP LAN line for 6 months I can say the service is 10x better than Cell phone service. And yet every day people rely on their cell phones to do things like dial 911. I think the numbers are very promising for a reletively new technology. But like any technology it requires time to mature and find its place in the world.
I agree with this comment, however I think what will happen is the general masses will still be wooed by pretty graphics and colors regardless of gameplay or controls. Most computer people, regardless of whether they are a game developer or not are overworked. It seems to have fit the trade, and is accepted by most people in the trade. However its not all doom and gloom for the gaming industry. There is still freelance work going on out there, as well as smaller companies who work under an ideal, not just for $$. This to me reminds me a lot of some of the film festivals out there. Yes sometimes we get great stuff from amateur work, and sometimes its crap, but the industry is segragating itself now. It seems to happen in all the entertainment industries. Music, Movies, and now Games are heading in that direction. You will have your pop games (ala World of Warcraft), and then you will have your feelance/amateur stuff that could be good or bad. This is the world we live in unfortunately.
What is interesting about this article is that it states it runs off a second alternator that has to be added to the car. If this is the case then there will be an additional load on the car engine. If the load is less than normal car AC units and the amount of cooling power is the same, then the kids are right it will save gas milage. However how they tested that is not listed, will be interesting to watch though. Congrats to the kids.
I have to wonder, you can go into any backwater fleamarket and find lots of copyrighted material for sale. In Chinatown in NYC you walk on the streets and buy DVDs of movies that havent been released yet. But all of a sudden the internet hits and all of this illegal sharing becomes trackable. Now the *AA's have an idea on how bad this stuff is. Even if they win and illegal internet activity is put to a stop, I think there will still be thousands if not millions of people who participate in illegal copyright enfringement, it will just move to another place that cant be tracked so easily.
I like the idea of reducing the number of devices, the question in my mind is can it do those things simultanously. If not then there will always be a need for multiple devices just for the sake of multitasking. I'm not saying I want to listen to music while on the phone. But I would sure like to browse the web while on the phone, or check email. I definately would want to receive calls while browsing the web, which a lot of phones these days dont do, its one of the other not both. If they could make a device with A LOT of storage, plays MP3s, does email/web browsing, while the phone was running I would be one of the first in line.
I've thought about attempting something like this in the past. My biggest gripe is that I'm not aware of any simulator that would allow multiple screens with multiple points of view. If I did something like this I would want to put a screen on each window so it felt like it surrounded me. To me just doing the front windshield with a display is no better than an arcade machine. I understand its just really neat to build this on your own, but I'd want a little more out of it than what I could get by playing in an arcade.