"Arent Fox asks us as a first step, to suppress every reference to the Aol brand name and logo, and after another (rather sinuous) argument, to hand over the pengaol.org domain name. We have to comply and answer before october 14th, or they will inform Aol of their action."
Note the last sentence. It sounds to me like it's not AOL initiating this, but in fact a sleezy law firm looking to create themselves some from by finding people to sue. They're probably hoping that peng will not comply, and thus generate themselves a juicy law suit.
GloaalScape, the comapany responsible for CuteFTP (one of the more popular FTP clients for Windows) has several products which can make use of secure FTP functionality. CuteFTP Pro has the ability to connect to several different types of secure FTP servers, as well as traditional FTP sites.
More recently they have also developed an ftp server product which is focused on security and encrpytion. I haven't used it personally, but for those of you looking for a secure FTP server for Windows (no jokes, please) it may be worth researching further.
Risking being flamed here, but if you're going to point out that IIS is #1 for windows, you should also point out that the number two vulnerability for nix systems according to this article is Apache.
Because there's no article attached to the comments about the GeForce 4 I can't be sure about this, but I would imagine that the nvidia cart would be required for certain visual effects, not game content. I see nothing wrong with nVidia striking a deal with Square to include some fancy visual effects only possible with the GeForce 4. In fact this deal is probably nothing more than nVidia footing the bill for Square to add some spiffy new graphical perks for the cards that support them.
All this does is gives nVidia a game with which to showcase some of the new features of their new cards, how is this a bad thing? Let's not forget that this game is also going to be released for the PS2, so I find it highly doubtful that anything especially important would need a GeForce 4 to run.
I recently made the transition from a desktop machine to a laptop with a high-resolution LCD monitor. Before seeing it with my own eyes I never would have believed how clear, crisp and easy to read 1600x1200 would be on a 15" monitor. It's actually far easier to read than my old 19" monitor running the same resolution. And this is at the default, small, font sizes.
A lot of consumer level monitors suffer from being able to display a high resolution, but not being able to do so clearly. LCDs on the other hand have one physical element per pixel, which means that they are always sharp with no blurring between pixels.
The reason it's so much easier to read small text on paper than on a screen is because of the sharpness of the individual dots which make up that text. Reading text on a sharp, high quality LCD is amazingly similar. In fact, with some rough calculations 1600x1200 on a 15" diag screen is approximately the 200 dots per inch that this viewsonic monitor has. I've often wondered why they didn't make standalone versions of laptop quality LCDs, but now finally someone has started. I would LOVE a 22 inch version of this screen, though $8000 is a little steep for my pocket book
I am consistantly surprised by the state of broadband in the States. Here in Vancouver, BC where I live the number number of users who still use dial-up are quickly shrinking. While it's not perfect, the residential service offered by Shaw out here is cheap, fast (always over 300KB/s) and reliable. I haven't had more than a couple hours of total downtime in the 2.5 years I've used their service. Additionally in that time the cost has only gone up $5, to $45 candian a month, which is slightly under $30 US.
They also offer free installation, initial free and half rate months and various other incentives for new users to sign up. It's actually cheaper for me to use a cable modem than use a dial up ISP with an additional phone line. And for those who don't need the speed, they even now offer a lite package for $25 (just over $15 US) which gives speeds around 25 KB/s.
At those prices (including modem rental), it's almost impossible to say that it's not worth it. The thing that's really interesting? Shaw has a virtual monopoly on TV and cable connections in BC and numerous other provinces in canada.
This entire discussions, specifically on the rarity of different jem stones made me think of a book I recently read: Shock Wave by Clive Cussler. While it is a work of fiction it takes a deep look at the greed surrounding the diamond cartels. I would definately recommend it for anyone interested in an entertaining read.
I have found that this behaviour of searches not working properly can actually be caused by running older versions of Kazaa. It has been my experience that running more than one or two versions out of date will cause serious problems with searching. This is most likely done on purpose by Kazaa to ensure that all the users are running the latest and greatest distributed computing software which was the topic of countless other/. articles.
Their plan in this case is most likely to continue to pay the royalties for the time being, while building market share for their new players. Once this market share is established they will be able to drop DVD support, and thus avoid paying the royalties.
I would imagine that their plan is looking more at the long term rather than an immediate stop of royalty payments. The only way they can get any market share for their player is if it also plays standard DVDs, and so they'll have to bite the bullet for now and accept that. As these players begin to emerge in the market they will most likely attempt to get distributers to release products on the new media. Only once this has happened will they be able to cut DVD support, and thus the royalties.
Also, if they could implement alternative techniques to avoid licencing as you suggest there would be no reason at all for this new format!
If people want to play online computers games, they'll play them on the computer.
Just the other day I had the opportunity to play multiplayer Halo over the net using a piece of software called GameSpy Tunnel. I couldn't believe how much fun it was! One of the best things, and something that is not possible on a computer, is being able to have up to 4 players per X-Box. Sitting next to your friends when playing a team game enhances the experience so much, and makes the games that much more fun. Another person's comment to this article mentioned that consoles are social machines, and the real fun comes from sitting with people and playing. Well internet gaming with the X-Box takes that to the next level, allowing you and your friends to kick the crap out of another (or several other) groups of people who are trying to do the same.
I'm actually very surprised no one has mentioned the GameSpy software yet, it works great, is constantly being updated for new games, and even more, it's free! I definately recommend anyone who owns an X-Box check it out!
I personally have a Dell Inspiron laptop, and like any desktop replacement notebook, it gets extremely hot after even short periods of sustained use. One thing I've found that works wonders for not only helping keep it cool but also with making the computer easier to work with for extended periods of time is a simple little item called the Podium CoolPad. While it seams amazingly simple at first glance, it's amazing how effective it can be. I can't recommend it highly enough.
I'm not in any way affiliated with the retailed I linked to, they're just one of the few around who actually offer the product.
When talking about a site wide license, yes they can charge you for potential use of the software. In fact this is the whole point of a site wide license!
The one thing that seems to be consistently missed every time site licensing comes up on slashdot is that institutions receive a discount price based on the number of machines which they have on the premises. If they really wanted to, they could purchase a regular, individual copy of the software for every machine that will be running MS software. While in this case no one would be paying for any "potential" use, you can bet that it would end up costing much more in the end. Not only this, but charging for "potential" use is what gives the user the flexibility of purchasing new machines and installing the software without worry.
The people who are responsible for the computers in large institutions aren't stupid, and neither are those responsible for financial planning. No one would agree to a site license with Microsoft if it's just going to cost them more money.
Site licences are good for the consumer because it gives them the convenience of not having to worry about individual machines and because they save them money. They're good for Microsoft because even though they theoretically make less than they would off of individual licences, they don't have to worry about piracy.
Slashdot Mirror
"Arent Fox asks us as a first step, to suppress every reference to the Aol brand name and logo, and after another (rather sinuous) argument, to hand over the pengaol.org domain name. We have to comply and answer before october 14th, or they will inform Aol of their action."
Note the last sentence. It sounds to me like it's not AOL initiating this, but in fact a sleezy law firm looking to create themselves some from by finding people to sue. They're probably hoping that peng will not comply, and thus generate themselves a juicy law suit.
GloaalScape, the comapany responsible for CuteFTP (one of the more popular FTP clients for Windows) has several products which can make use of secure FTP functionality. CuteFTP Pro has the ability to connect to several different types of secure FTP servers, as well as traditional FTP sites.
More recently they have also developed an ftp server product which is focused on security and encrpytion. I haven't used it personally, but for those of you looking for a secure FTP server for Windows (no jokes, please) it may be worth researching further.
Risking being flamed here, but if you're going to point out that IIS is #1 for windows, you should also point out that the number two vulnerability for nix systems according to this article is Apache.
Do you happen to have any links to more information on HT performance under Linux, specifically with the 2.4 kernel?
Because there's no article attached to the comments about the GeForce 4 I can't be sure about this, but I would imagine that the nvidia cart would be required for certain visual effects, not game content. I see nothing wrong with nVidia striking a deal with Square to include some fancy visual effects only possible with the GeForce 4. In fact this deal is probably nothing more than nVidia footing the bill for Square to add some spiffy new graphical perks for the cards that support them.
All this does is gives nVidia a game with which to showcase some of the new features of their new cards, how is this a bad thing? Let's not forget that this game is also going to be released for the PS2, so I find it highly doubtful that anything especially important would need a GeForce 4 to run.
I recently made the transition from a desktop machine to a laptop with a high-resolution LCD monitor. Before seeing it with my own eyes I never would have believed how clear, crisp and easy to read 1600x1200 would be on a 15" monitor. It's actually far easier to read than my old 19" monitor running the same resolution. And this is at the default, small, font sizes.
A lot of consumer level monitors suffer from being able to display a high resolution, but not being able to do so clearly. LCDs on the other hand have one physical element per pixel, which means that they are always sharp with no blurring between pixels.
The reason it's so much easier to read small text on paper than on a screen is because of the sharpness of the individual dots which make up that text. Reading text on a sharp, high quality LCD is amazingly similar. In fact, with some rough calculations 1600x1200 on a 15" diag screen is approximately the 200 dots per inch that this viewsonic monitor has. I've often wondered why they didn't make standalone versions of laptop quality LCDs, but now finally someone has started. I would LOVE a 22 inch version of this screen, though $8000 is a little steep for my pocket book
I am consistantly surprised by the state of broadband in the States. Here in Vancouver, BC where I live the number number of users who still use dial-up are quickly shrinking. While it's not perfect, the residential service offered by Shaw out here is cheap, fast (always over 300KB/s) and reliable. I haven't had more than a couple hours of total downtime in the 2.5 years I've used their service. Additionally in that time the cost has only gone up $5, to $45 candian a month, which is slightly under $30 US.
They also offer free installation, initial free and half rate months and various other incentives for new users to sign up. It's actually cheaper for me to use a cable modem than use a dial up ISP with an additional phone line. And for those who don't need the speed, they even now offer a lite package for $25 (just over $15 US) which gives speeds around 25 KB/s.
At those prices (including modem rental), it's almost impossible to say that it's not worth it. The thing that's really interesting? Shaw has a virtual monopoly on TV and cable connections in BC and numerous other provinces in canada.
This entire discussions, specifically on the rarity of different jem stones made me think of a book I recently read: Shock Wave by Clive Cussler. While it is a work of fiction it takes a deep look at the greed surrounding the diamond cartels. I would definately recommend it for anyone interested in an entertaining read.
I have found that this behaviour of searches not working properly can actually be caused by running older versions of Kazaa. It has been my experience that running more than one or two versions out of date will cause serious problems with searching. This is most likely done on purpose by Kazaa to ensure that all the users are running the latest and greatest distributed computing software which was the topic of countless other /. articles.
Their plan in this case is most likely to continue to pay the royalties for the time being, while building market share for their new players. Once this market share is established they will be able to drop DVD support, and thus avoid paying the royalties.
I would imagine that their plan is looking more at the long term rather than an immediate stop of royalty payments. The only way they can get any market share for their player is if it also plays standard DVDs, and so they'll have to bite the bullet for now and accept that. As these players begin to emerge in the market they will most likely attempt to get distributers to release products on the new media. Only once this has happened will they be able to cut DVD support, and thus the royalties. Also, if they could implement alternative techniques to avoid licencing as you suggest there would be no reason at all for this new format!
If people want to play online computers games, they'll play them on the computer.
Just the other day I had the opportunity to play multiplayer Halo over the net using a piece of software called GameSpy Tunnel. I couldn't believe how much fun it was! One of the best things, and something that is not possible on a computer, is being able to have up to 4 players per X-Box. Sitting next to your friends when playing a team game enhances the experience so much, and makes the games that much more fun. Another person's comment to this article mentioned that consoles are social machines, and the real fun comes from sitting with people and playing. Well internet gaming with the X-Box takes that to the next level, allowing you and your friends to kick the crap out of another (or several other) groups of people who are trying to do the same.
I'm actually very surprised no one has mentioned the GameSpy software yet, it works great, is constantly being updated for new games, and even more, it's free! I definately recommend anyone who owns an X-Box check it out!
I personally have a Dell Inspiron laptop, and like any desktop replacement notebook, it gets extremely hot after even short periods of sustained use. One thing I've found that works wonders for not only helping keep it cool but also with making the computer easier to work with for extended periods of time is a simple little item called the Podium CoolPad. While it seams amazingly simple at first glance, it's amazing how effective it can be. I can't recommend it highly enough.
I'm not in any way affiliated with the retailed I linked to, they're just one of the few around who actually offer the product.
When talking about a site wide license, yes they can charge you for potential use of the software. In fact this is the whole point of a site wide license!
The one thing that seems to be consistently missed every time site licensing comes up on slashdot is that institutions receive a discount price based on the number of machines which they have on the premises. If they really wanted to, they could purchase a regular, individual copy of the software for every machine that will be running MS software. While in this case no one would be paying for any "potential" use, you can bet that it would end up costing much more in the end. Not only this, but charging for "potential" use is what gives the user the flexibility of purchasing new machines and installing the software without worry.
The people who are responsible for the computers in large institutions aren't stupid, and neither are those responsible for financial planning. No one would agree to a site license with Microsoft if it's just going to cost them more money.
Site licences are good for the consumer because it gives them the convenience of not having to worry about individual machines and because they save them money. They're good for Microsoft because even though they theoretically make less than they would off of individual licences, they don't have to worry about piracy.