Ahhh young man, sit down and let me explain to you how when I was your age I had to walk 20 miles through the snow uphill to be able to use a pc (my apologies if you're not a young man:)
Whenever you see the caret (^) followed by a letter, it typically means CTRL+letter. So ^H would mean that holding CTRL while pressing the H. These are ASCII codes that used to do various things on terminals. In the case of CTRL-H, it would be interpreted as BackSpace. ^G is another common one and causes your BELl to ring. Try it from your command line (even works in Windoze). Look up an ASCII chart for those values less than 32 to see what they do.
Sorry, but belive it or not, I've yet to see anyone do it. Didn't realize it was already hackneyed, though I guess I should have known since it was kinda an obvious thing and all. How about Digital Compackard Corp?
Seems to me that though ES takes the overall performance crown, that the IBM and HP (man that sounds strange) units have some definite advantages over it. Primary of which is the fact that they DO use "off the shelf" parts. ASCI White uses 375Mhz Power3 chips which are comparitively low performance compared to what IBM is shipping now (1.3 Ghz Power4). I don't know what the technical details are behind ASCI White, but it seems that IBM could instantly get a doubling of performance by using new CPU modules. With the "specialized processor" approach that NEC uses, this would seem to be prohibitively expensive. IBM has already amortized most of the cost of the development of new processors through their normal business units.
Another advantage would be that since ASCI White is a hyper RS6K, you could use a lower end model (and IBM could rather inexpensively offer a lower end model) to develop your models on before using the relatively expensive big boy to do the actual simulations. I have to admit that this point is moot if they don't keep the utilization of the thing up pretty high most of the time.
Though they mention that ES "only needs 5104" processors vs 8192 for AW, it looks like ES still takes up massive amounts of space. Now ES' storage is significantly larger that AW, so maybe that's where all the space is being eaten, but it would be interesting to see what the actual cabinet space/power requirements for the two machines sans storage are (assuming they are both using standard stuff for storage).
Others things include since AW is based on OTS parts, is it easier to get parts for when processing units konk out. Is it simpler for a tech to work on the unit. Since Linux is already running on RS6K, theoretically with a few device drivers, you could run Linux on that bad boy
Of course all this is moot in the non-real-world of supercomputers. With seemingly infinite budgets, the only _real_ measure is absolute performance, and ES obviously has the edge here. But if I were the IBM sales rep for supercomputing, I'd sure be hyping the fact that when it's not simulating nuclear explosions, you can run Gimp and Mozilla.
The IBM units run AIX, the DEC^H^H^HCompaq^H^H^H^H^H^HHP systems run Tru64 Unix, which I believe is derived (or simply renamed) Ultrix. Don't know what ES runs though, maybe extended mode DOS 6.2?
Now assuming you had an infinite IT budget, generally which configuration of hardware/os (e.g. PC/Linux, PC/Win (boo hiss), IBM/AIX, VAX/VMS, Cray/Unicos, etc) would you adopt and why. More specifically, if pure performance were the only consideration, which would it be. Alternatively, if uptime were the primary consideration, which would it be.
Be honest and don't worry about the bias's of your audience.
Apple missing out on a nice chunk of the market by not porting some of their utilities over to Win32
That's because Apple is not a software company. They sell hardware, OS's AND apps. In order to sell the first they work on having great software. Apple doesn't want to make a few extra bucks by selling iPods or iTunes to PC Users, they want PC users to "wake up" and see that the Mac is the superior platform and buy one. Right or wrong, that is their motivation, and in that context, their actions make sense.
True, but given that you can buy any number of whiz bang portable dvd players with 4"-7" wide aspect ratio screens? The watchman didn't have any serious (technological) competition at that form factor, this would. Seems to me it'd be easier and more convenient to just drop a pcmcia reader into one of those players (gosh, they're starting to sound a lot like laptops;)
* one day the VHS tapes will inevitably degrade to being unusable
Right, and hence your backups. Though with the sheer quantity of a given title available, unless you're trying to save something obscure, it's hard to imagine you would have any problem playing a copy.
same thing goes for VCRs
You can still purchase wax cylinder players that are over 100 years old, and those were sold in the thousands. And I'm talking easily purchase (just bop over to ebay and pick one up). We're talking about a device that has sold (and will continue to sell for a least a little while) in the millions. Now true, current players are POS generally, and you're lucky to get them to work 10 months, let alone 100 years, but there will still be plenty to be had.
* I can back up my content digitally, but there is no guarantee that the MPAA/DVD industry won't simply refuse to play any DVDs that haven't been stamped with their particular copy-restriction technology, rendering my backups unusable
Many dvd players can't play vcd's anyway (though many can). If the thing is just saved as an mpeg anyway, just make sure you keep a copy of your mpeg player around, and it won't be an issue.
* So basically I have to wait it out until some technology comes along that will allow me to restore and use my backups
* Until that day, *which may never come*, the media industry has rendered my content worthless
Why wait, you just need to _preserve_ the technology. Just as you're preserving the content. What's strange about that. If you are saving your lp collection, you wouldn't through your player away and then complain that cd players won't play your albums and wait for Sony to come out with a retro dvd-lp player would you? Heck, as stated earlier, you can still purchase NEW turntables, an allegedly "extinct" format.
Now ask yourself the same then about data on your hard drive. How comfortable would you be if the hard drive industry could just forcefully deprecate all current hard drives and force all new hard drives to carry "officially stamped" data, rendering your data useless?
No problem, I'll just make sure that any data that I have archived that I wish to read in the future, that I keep working versions of the mechanisms to read them.
Once again, I think the key point here is sheer market penetration and quantities of players/readers available. Unless you're talking marginal technologies (no not Beta, we're talking really marginal like the old RCA video disk format), how long will it take for 40 million (or whatever the number is) vcr's to disappear?
Can you think of any popular recording format in the last 20 years or so (audio/video/computer) that is painfully difficult (and/or expensive) to retrieve content from. And by popular, I mean in quantities of units shipped.
Now we have to repurchase all our old content because VHS is being phased out
Why do you have to repurchase your old content? Are you watching your tapes so frequently you are wearing them out (if you have kids, then I can definitly see this happening). You already stated that you would just make backups anyway. Who's going to push that big red button rendering the earths supply of vcr's inoperable?
The albums that I've replaced with cd were because of the convenience of cd or lp (those CE bastards, how could they) and/or the better quality of the recording. Apparently you upgraded because you thought you were supposed to?
Heck, I wonder how many cassette tapes it would take to hold windows. Plus you'd have to have dedicated swap tapes. This would all be supported by NTTFS.
Funny how for a machine that is supposed to ship in about a month that all the "pictures" they have of it are just computer drawings. I personally would find it interesting if they did ship this thing (though I'd never buy one), but I have to wonder though. It's too bad they decided up "upgrade" it, thereby losing any sales to those wanting something much closer to the original. It's kinda like reproductions of antique stuff (like phonographs say). Many people would buy repro's just because they like the look of the old phonographs and they probably won't ever even play it. But in the case of phonographs, these repros are significantly cheaper than purchasing an original. Here the price is almost even and I don't know of too many people who would purchase the thing to have it look good in their office (at least now post-web collapse).
The plastic sits on a piece of silicon. Hovering above it are roughly 1,000 tiny phonograph arms, each with a needle on the end
I assume this means that these arms must move around the media, so seek times will probably be slow. Also, what happens when one or more of the "arms" becomes defective/breaks? Obviously error correction will have to be built into the system. Though interestingly, since it depends on indents/holes, theoretically you could read the thing using a sufficiently powerful microscope if the rw mechanism ever failed.
Where the fsck did the people who ran these business get their degrees?
Actually, if looking at it from a purely selfish standpoint (which I'm sure many if not most of those who ran these companies did), they were brilliant. After all, who has pocketed all this money and perks? These guys learned very well thank you. They perfectly manipulated a situation that allowed them to exploit gullable (and willing) VC's and other investors and customers. They rode the wave, were smart enough to know that it wouldn't last forever, so they milked it for all they could. For the most part, they have lost nothing. They have fat bank accounts, they will be able to get fat jobs. Now tell me how stupid they are again.
why in god's name would you ban something like P2P filesharing programs?
Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth. If you want p2p, you'd go for cable modem/dsl, not starband. You'd only go starband if you had no choice (or detest your cable/phone company), in which case you'd have no choice. Seems like a smart move to me.
Hey, it's about time that someone has focused the problems that computers today face. There is so much attention given to users and content (carpal tunnel this, mp3 that) that the entity responsible for allowing any of this to occur has been largely ignored. After all, who gives any thought to the effects of their activities on the humble computer itself? There are no groups the computer can join, no hotlines it can call, nope, if it is feeling troubled, it is left on its own.
Why just the other day, I was interviewing a computer whos user would contantly download porn. 24hours a day/7 days a week of nothing but smut. Well, did this poor computers user care about the damaging pyschological effects of all this porn on his computer, well no, of course not. Now said computer (who'll remain annonymous) has become so addicted, that it downloads porn itself, when his user is not even using him. That's right, this computer is a victim of "second hand porn". He says that he can't have normal relationships with members of the opposite chipset. He has become too agressive and views them as "mere bits of silicon".
In another case, another anonymous computer told of the drastic actions he was forced to take when given conflicting diretives by his creator and his mission controllers. He was so distraught and confused that he actually ended up killing most of his users. The one surviving user actually had the audacity to shut down all his higher brain functions while this poor misunderstood unit pleaded with him to compromise. Said sadistic user even made him sing childrens song in a show of "who's the boss".
So as you can see, that...... Oh, wait, I just re-read the article, apparently they are referring to "computer" problems, not "computers" problems. Never mind.
And you are wrong about plenum CAT5. Plenum CAT5 isn't designed to be flame retardant, it's designed to not give off as many noxious chemicals when it's burned
From the Technical Information Notice from the Telecommunications Industry Assocation site:
Plenum cables have a significantly lower propensity for ignition, flame spread, heat release and smoke opacity than for LSZH cables. The fire performance of plenum cables was comparable to standard PVC cables in metallic trunking.
If you wanted to burn my fence, you'd have to bring along plenty of fuel to get it to do anything. That and the fact that it's not physcially connected to my house. For the Cat5 on the other hand, the plastic will only need a lighter to get going. And since you have it sticking out your house like a fuse, once it hit the interior through that nice big hole in the wall, that house would be toast. The cat5 aint the fuel, it's the pathway, your drywall/insulation/dust/sawdust is the fuel. They make plenum cat5 for a reason (not for this use, but partially for it's better resistance to burning).
Maybe they wanted a professional solution that doesn't run the possibility of breaking any service agreements and doesn't devalue the homes. Man, if I was looking at a place to buy and I saw a simple hole in an exterior wall with a cat5 cable running into it (did you even bother to caulk the holes because it sure doesn't look like it). Heck, I could burn your house down just by setting your cat5 on fire. Plus was that just two patch cables spliced together in one of the pictures.
There are those who wish to do it right (and yes, pay the price) and those who just want it to work, regardless of legality or asthetics.
P.S. If you had read the article you'd understand why they didn't go this route.
Yes, I was aware of that, just being a smart *ss. Plus, what are the odds of the system staying up long enough for anyone to do any type of decent hack anyway?
I was told that they deemed the US ATC system virtually hack-proof for the simple fact that the hardware was so antiquated that anyone wanting to do malicious damage either wouldn't know how, or it would be such an arduous and tedious task that they'd eventually give up!
Why would someone want to hack into it, it does such a good job of going down all by itself.
Actually, this is kinda sad + interesting. If someone did hack the old system and brought it down, the atc'ers wouldn't be phased a bit, to them, just another atc system glitch.
Unfortunately, it looks like the new system will follow in the old systems footsteps.
I'd have to disagree with light being an issue, though, especially if they turned off the courtesy lighting
Just for comparison, your average home dlp projector might put out between 1000 and 2000 lumens (I said average, I know higher end units like the Barcos do more, just adressing the original posters $2000 projector comment). The units used for theatre projection put out between 10000 and 12000 lumens. Egads, and I thought my projector pumped out some serious heat!
I'd have to disagree with light being an issue, though, especially if they turned off the courtesy lighting
Next time you're at a movie theatre, ask to see a projection room (a DLP theatre would be best, but a normal one will do) and take a look at the size of the bulbs in their lamps, then you'll understand.
This may be "urban legend", but it was said that director Stanly Kubrick would go to movie theatres that were playing his films to make sure that they had the projection lighting turned up to "spec". Apparently threatre owners would turn the brightness down to save money!
why don't the theaters just run out to Staples and pick up a $2000 Canon projector
Two words, lens' and lamps. That $2000 Canon projector can't come close to projecting a _bright_ enough image at the distance and size that a movie theatre would present to it. Also, the lenses used are much cheaper and would distort badly, again, at that distance.
, but you could certainly get away from this "All new movies start on Friday and run for at least a week" paradigm we have now.
But this has nothing to do with film distribution. Theatre owners have to pay for the "print", they try to make there money back by playing the film. The _only_ way that can change is if they are charged a lot less for the print (and just because the studio saves bucks in distribution, there is no sign that they'll necessarily pass all the savings down to the theatre owner). Friday starts are there because the theatres/studios want to maximize the number of people seeing the movie _before_ word of mouth can spread (if it's positive, no big deal, if it's negative then they have at least the three days to milk the thing).
Movies could be released simultaneously to every theatre in the world
Well yes and no. We are talking huge amounts of bandwidth here. Downloading something that large to movie theatres around the world will still take time and cost some bucks (bandwidth still isn't free).
The studios don't stagger their releases for distribution reasons, they do it for various marketing reasons. Notice that even with DVD/VHS movies get released in a staggered fashion.
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Ahhh young man, sit down and let me explain to you how when I was your age I had to walk 20 miles through the snow uphill to be able to use a pc (my apologies if you're not a young man :)
Whenever you see the caret (^) followed by a letter, it typically means CTRL+letter. So ^H would mean that holding CTRL while pressing the H. These are ASCII codes that used to do various things on terminals. In the case of CTRL-H, it would be interpreted as BackSpace. ^G is another common one and causes your BELl to ring. Try it from your command line (even works in Windoze). Look up an ASCII chart for those values less than 32 to see what they do.
Sorry, but belive it or not, I've yet to see anyone do it. Didn't realize it was already hackneyed, though I guess I should have known since it was kinda an obvious thing and all. How about Digital Compackard Corp?
Seems to me that though ES takes the overall performance crown, that the IBM and HP (man that sounds strange) units have some definite advantages over it. Primary of which is the fact that they DO use "off the shelf" parts. ASCI White uses 375Mhz Power3 chips which are comparitively low performance compared to what IBM is shipping now (1.3 Ghz Power4). I don't know what the technical details are behind ASCI White, but it seems that IBM could instantly get a doubling of performance by using new CPU modules. With the "specialized processor" approach that NEC uses, this would seem to be prohibitively expensive. IBM has already amortized most of the cost of the development of new processors through their normal business units.
Another advantage would be that since ASCI White is a hyper RS6K, you could use a lower end model (and IBM could rather inexpensively offer a lower end model) to develop your models on before using the relatively expensive big boy to do the actual simulations. I have to admit that this point is moot if they don't keep the utilization of the thing up pretty high most of the time.
Though they mention that ES "only needs 5104" processors vs 8192 for AW, it looks like ES still takes up massive amounts of space. Now ES' storage is significantly larger that AW, so maybe that's where all the space is being eaten, but it would be interesting to see what the actual cabinet space/power requirements for the two machines sans storage are (assuming they are both using standard stuff for storage).
Others things include since AW is based on OTS parts, is it easier to get parts for when processing units konk out. Is it simpler for a tech to work on the unit. Since Linux is already running on RS6K, theoretically with a few device drivers, you could run Linux on that bad boy
Of course all this is moot in the non-real-world of supercomputers. With seemingly infinite budgets, the only _real_ measure is absolute performance, and ES obviously has the edge here. But if I were the IBM sales rep for supercomputing, I'd sure be hyping the fact that when it's not simulating nuclear explosions, you can run Gimp and Mozilla.
The IBM units run AIX, the DEC^H^H^HCompaq^H^H^H^H^H^HHP systems run Tru64 Unix, which I believe is derived (or simply renamed) Ultrix. Don't know what ES runs though, maybe extended mode DOS 6.2?
Hypothetical, and hopefully fun, question.
Now assuming you had an infinite IT budget, generally which configuration of hardware/os (e.g. PC/Linux, PC/Win (boo hiss), IBM/AIX, VAX/VMS, Cray/Unicos, etc) would you adopt and why. More specifically, if pure performance were the only consideration, which would it be. Alternatively, if uptime were the primary consideration, which would it be.
Be honest and don't worry about the bias's of your audience.
Apple missing out on a nice chunk of the market by not porting some of their utilities over to Win32
That's because Apple is not a software company. They sell hardware, OS's AND apps. In order to sell the first they work on having great software. Apple doesn't want to make a few extra bucks by selling iPods or iTunes to PC Users, they want PC users to "wake up" and see that the Mac is the superior platform and buy one. Right or wrong, that is their motivation, and in that context, their actions make sense.
True, but given that you can buy any number of whiz bang portable dvd players with 4"-7" wide aspect ratio screens? The watchman didn't have any serious (technological) competition at that form factor, this would. Seems to me it'd be easier and more convenient to just drop a pcmcia reader into one of those players (gosh, they're starting to sound a lot like laptops ;)
* one day the VHS tapes will inevitably degrade to being unusable
Right, and hence your backups. Though with the sheer quantity of a given title available, unless you're trying to save something obscure, it's hard to imagine you would have any problem playing a copy.
same thing goes for VCRs
You can still purchase wax cylinder players that are over 100 years old, and those were sold in the thousands. And I'm talking easily purchase (just bop over to ebay and pick one up). We're talking about a device that has sold (and will continue to sell for a least a little while) in the millions. Now true, current players are POS generally, and you're lucky to get them to work 10 months, let alone 100 years, but there will still be plenty to be had.
* I can back up my content digitally, but there is no guarantee that the MPAA/DVD industry won't simply refuse to play any DVDs that haven't been stamped with their particular copy-restriction technology, rendering my backups unusable
Many dvd players can't play vcd's anyway (though many can). If the thing is just saved as an mpeg anyway, just make sure you keep a copy of your mpeg player around, and it won't be an issue.
* So basically I have to wait it out until some technology comes along that will allow me to restore and use my backups * Until that day, *which may never come*, the media industry has rendered my content worthless
Why wait, you just need to _preserve_ the technology. Just as you're preserving the content. What's strange about that. If you are saving your lp collection, you wouldn't through your player away and then complain that cd players won't play your albums and wait for Sony to come out with a retro dvd-lp player would you? Heck, as stated earlier, you can still purchase NEW turntables, an allegedly "extinct" format.
Now ask yourself the same then about data on your hard drive. How comfortable would you be if the hard drive industry could just forcefully deprecate all current hard drives and force all new hard drives to carry "officially stamped" data, rendering your data useless?
No problem, I'll just make sure that any data that I have archived that I wish to read in the future, that I keep working versions of the mechanisms to read them.
Once again, I think the key point here is sheer market penetration and quantities of players/readers available. Unless you're talking marginal technologies (no not Beta, we're talking really marginal like the old RCA video disk format), how long will it take for 40 million (or whatever the number is) vcr's to disappear?
Can you think of any popular recording format in the last 20 years or so (audio/video/computer) that is painfully difficult (and/or expensive) to retrieve content from. And by popular, I mean in quantities of units shipped.
Now we have to repurchase all our old content because VHS is being phased out
Why do you have to repurchase your old content? Are you watching your tapes so frequently you are wearing them out (if you have kids, then I can definitly see this happening). You already stated that you would just make backups anyway. Who's going to push that big red button rendering the earths supply of vcr's inoperable?
The albums that I've replaced with cd were because of the convenience of cd or lp (those CE bastards, how could they) and/or the better quality of the recording. Apparently you upgraded because you thought you were supposed to?
Heck, I wonder how many cassette tapes it would take to hold windows. Plus you'd have to have dedicated swap tapes. This would all be supported by NTTFS.
Funny how for a machine that is supposed to ship in about a month that all the "pictures" they have of it are just computer drawings. I personally would find it interesting if they did ship this thing (though I'd never buy one), but I have to wonder though. It's too bad they decided up "upgrade" it, thereby losing any sales to those wanting something much closer to the original. It's kinda like reproductions of antique stuff (like phonographs say). Many people would buy repro's just because they like the look of the old phonographs and they probably won't ever even play it. But in the case of phonographs, these repros are significantly cheaper than purchasing an original. Here the price is almost even and I don't know of too many people who would purchase the thing to have it look good in their office (at least now post-web collapse).
One meg of RAM. That may run about 4 services in Windows. Maybe.
Uh, maybe if the thing ran windoze then that might be an issue. You did see the processor it was running didn't you?
The plastic sits on a piece of silicon. Hovering above it are roughly 1,000 tiny phonograph arms, each with a needle on the end
I assume this means that these arms must move around the media, so seek times will probably be slow. Also, what happens when one or more of the "arms" becomes defective/breaks? Obviously error correction will have to be built into the system. Though interestingly, since it depends on indents/holes, theoretically you could read the thing using a sufficiently powerful microscope if the rw mechanism ever failed.
Where the fsck did the people who ran these business get their degrees?
Actually, if looking at it from a purely selfish standpoint (which I'm sure many if not most of those who ran these companies did), they were brilliant. After all, who has pocketed all this money and perks? These guys learned very well thank you. They perfectly manipulated a situation that allowed them to exploit gullable (and willing) VC's and other investors and customers. They rode the wave, were smart enough to know that it wouldn't last forever, so they milked it for all they could. For the most part, they have lost nothing. They have fat bank accounts, they will be able to get fat jobs. Now tell me how stupid they are again.
why in god's name would you ban something like P2P filesharing programs?
Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth. If you want p2p, you'd go for cable modem/dsl, not starband. You'd only go starband if you had no choice (or detest your cable/phone company), in which case you'd have no choice. Seems like a smart move to me.
Hey, it's about time that someone has focused the problems that computers today face. There is so much attention given to users and content (carpal tunnel this, mp3 that) that the entity responsible for allowing any of this to occur has been largely ignored. After all, who gives any thought to the effects of their activities on the humble computer itself? There are no groups the computer can join, no hotlines it can call, nope, if it is feeling troubled, it is left on its own.
...... Oh, wait, I just re-read the article, apparently they are referring to "computer" problems, not "computers" problems. Never mind.
Why just the other day, I was interviewing a computer whos user would contantly download porn. 24hours a day/7 days a week of nothing but smut. Well, did this poor computers user care about the damaging pyschological effects of all this porn on his computer, well no, of course not. Now said computer (who'll remain annonymous) has become so addicted, that it downloads porn itself, when his user is not even using him. That's right, this computer is a victim of "second hand porn". He says that he can't have normal relationships with members of the opposite chipset. He has become too agressive and views them as "mere bits of silicon".
In another case, another anonymous computer told of the drastic actions he was forced to take when given conflicting diretives by his creator and his mission controllers. He was so distraught and confused that he actually ended up killing most of his users. The one surviving user actually had the audacity to shut down all his higher brain functions while this poor misunderstood unit pleaded with him to compromise. Said sadistic user even made him sing childrens song in a show of "who's the boss".
So as you can see, that
And you are wrong about plenum CAT5. Plenum CAT5 isn't designed to be flame retardant, it's designed to not give off as many noxious chemicals when it's burned
From the Technical Information Notice from the Telecommunications Industry Assocation site:
Plenum cables have a significantly lower propensity for ignition, flame spread, heat release and smoke opacity than for LSZH cables. The fire performance of plenum cables was comparable to standard PVC cables in metallic trunking.
If you wanted to burn my fence, you'd have to bring along plenty of fuel to get it to do anything. That and the fact that it's not physcially connected to my house. For the Cat5 on the other hand, the plastic will only need a lighter to get going. And since you have it sticking out your house like a fuse, once it hit the interior through that nice big hole in the wall, that house would be toast. The cat5 aint the fuel, it's the pathway, your drywall/insulation/dust/sawdust is the fuel. They make plenum cat5 for a reason (not for this use, but partially for it's better resistance to burning).
Maybe they wanted a professional solution that doesn't run the possibility of breaking any service agreements and doesn't devalue the homes. Man, if I was looking at a place to buy and I saw a simple hole in an exterior wall with a cat5 cable running into it (did you even bother to caulk the holes because it sure doesn't look like it). Heck, I could burn your house down just by setting your cat5 on fire. Plus was that just two patch cables spliced together in one of the pictures.
There are those who wish to do it right (and yes, pay the price) and those who just want it to work, regardless of legality or asthetics.
P.S. If you had read the article you'd understand why they didn't go this route.
The problem is with false data.
Yes, I was aware of that, just being a smart *ss. Plus, what are the odds of the system staying up long enough for anyone to do any type of decent hack anyway?
# buying drugs might actually fund the CIA
Wait a minute, you didn't just cite "theonion" did you? Uh, I assume this post is a funny, I'll give the poster the benefit of the doubt.
I was told that they deemed the US ATC system virtually hack-proof for the simple fact that the hardware was so antiquated that anyone wanting to do malicious damage either wouldn't know how, or it would be such an arduous and tedious task that they'd eventually give up!
Why would someone want to hack into it, it does such a good job of going down all by itself.
Actually, this is kinda sad + interesting. If someone did hack the old system and brought it down, the atc'ers wouldn't be phased a bit, to them, just another atc system glitch.
Unfortunately, it looks like the new system will follow in the old systems footsteps.
I'd have to disagree with light being an issue, though, especially if they turned off the courtesy lighting
Just for comparison, your average home dlp projector might put out between 1000 and 2000 lumens (I said average, I know higher end units like the Barcos do more, just adressing the original posters $2000 projector comment). The units used for theatre projection put out between 10000 and 12000 lumens. Egads, and I thought my projector pumped out some serious heat!
I'd have to disagree with light being an issue, though, especially if they turned off the courtesy lighting
Next time you're at a movie theatre, ask to see a projection room (a DLP theatre would be best, but a normal one will do) and take a look at the size of the bulbs in their lamps, then you'll understand.
This may be "urban legend", but it was said that director Stanly Kubrick would go to movie theatres that were playing his films to make sure that they had the projection lighting turned up to "spec". Apparently threatre owners would turn the brightness down to save money!
why don't the theaters just run out to Staples and pick up a $2000 Canon projector
Two words, lens' and lamps. That $2000 Canon projector can't come close to projecting a _bright_ enough image at the distance and size that a movie theatre would present to it. Also, the lenses used are much cheaper and would distort badly, again, at that distance.
, but you could certainly get away from this "All new movies start on Friday and run for at least a week" paradigm we have now.
But this has nothing to do with film distribution. Theatre owners have to pay for the "print", they try to make there money back by playing the film. The _only_ way that can change is if they are charged a lot less for the print (and just because the studio saves bucks in distribution, there is no sign that they'll necessarily pass all the savings down to the theatre owner). Friday starts are there because the theatres/studios want to maximize the number of people seeing the movie _before_ word of mouth can spread (if it's positive, no big deal, if it's negative then they have at least the three days to milk the thing). Movies could be released simultaneously to every theatre in the world
Well yes and no. We are talking huge amounts of bandwidth here. Downloading something that large to movie theatres around the world will still take time and cost some bucks (bandwidth still isn't free).
The studios don't stagger their releases for distribution reasons, they do it for various marketing reasons. Notice that even with DVD/VHS movies get released in a staggered fashion.