I have Panasonic 2.4 GHz phones and 802.11b WiFi routers. I've had many problems with interference, but did finally find a solution that seems to work. I set the 802.11b AP for channel 11 and the phones don't seem to jump to that channel.
Ever since I did that, I've had no internet outages that were phone-related.
The funding issue with Disney & Miramax was simply a great example of the left middle finger not knowing what the right middle finger was doing.
Disney owns a controlling interest in Miramax, but doesn't often step in and make decisions for them. Miramax used to be owned by the Weinsteins. They are now the top brass of the company, but do have to do whatever Disney says, since they really control the company.
The Weinsteins funded the making of F 9/11, but it wasn't until the film began making big headlines that Disney's top brass started to worry about their own wallets should the Bush Administration be removed from power.
At that point, they forbade Miramax to release the film, but told the Weinsteins that they could purchase the rights back, but only with their own money. Also, Miramax was restricted by Disney from distributing the film, which would make use of Disney's distribution channels.
Thankfully, the Weinsteins have been at this a long time and were able to take care of business anyway.
I've been implementing a new X10 network in my home and purchased a Leviton 4-unit controller for my bedroom.
Now, I've never used any Leviton X10 modules before, but they're nicely designed, although pricey.
Anyway, I can get the unit to dim and brighten lamps, but not directly turn them on or off! On top of that, the unit registers when I use another controller to change the state, updating the LEDs on the unit's face.
When I called Leviton to ask why their controller is doing this, the tech support guy said that it's their own system, not X10, and that they don't claim to have any compatibility whatsoever.
Funny. Every place I've seen selling the Leviton modules is selling them as X10.
I did finally get the unit to work, but it took programming it with a macro using my computer interface.
It's interesting that the government looks for market-based solutions to behavior that actually kills people like dumping mercury into the air, serving arsenic-laden water to towns, or creating vehicular death-traps but when you offend their puritan sensibilities they go for the jugular--even when the market clearly says that a HUGE chunk of the electorate is all for a little obscenity.
Actually, it makes sense when you think about it. These christian fundamentalists all believe that the apocalypse is around the corner and that Jesus will return and set everything right again.
So, don't sweat destroying the planet! Jesus will fix it all in a couple years!
Let's see, we've had the worst economy in decades, so let's attack a harmless portion of that economy that hasn't fallen prey to BushCo's efforts to put all the money into the hands of the richest 1%.
That's wonderful. I'm so glad I live in the open-minded USA.
I always considered lucasarts adventure games to be the equivalent of a studios "prestidge picture". A prestidge pic is a movie the studio knows will probably loose a few bucks, but they make it to make ART instead of money.
LEC managers see them the same way, or at least they did. But they seem less willing to take the risks on them now. It's really too bad.
Tell me who is buying all those stupid star wars games?
I have no clue, but they're not really my kind of games. At LEC, they would regularly have what was known as a "Pizza Orgy". That is a situation where the project would setup about 2 dozen computers in the hockey rink (just outside of the Sound Dept.) and buy pizza and beer for anyone in the company who wanted to come down and play the in-production game for a little while, filling out a comment sheet.
I found most of the Pizza Orgies to be a nice opportunity to eat pizza, but wasn't interested in any of the games. And rarely were there any other Sound Dept. people at the orgies for longer than a few minutes.
However, when the Monkey 4 orgy happened, it was a lot more subdued. Far fewer people attended, but a good representation of the Sound Dept. was there! In fact, there's a picture of 4 computers in a row at the Monkey 4 orgy with myself, Michael Land, Clint Bajakian, and Peter McConnell all playing Monkey.
Do you have any insight into why they keep loosing all their talented desginers? (ron gilbert, the guy grim fandago guy, michael land)
Also its clear why they suck -- they keep turning down my resumes! heh:)
LEC has had vast turnover since before I worked there, although it seems that the turnover was extremely high during my tenure.
For example, during my time, the IT department rotated fully more than twice! The fact is that LEC pays badly and there aren't really many perks. So, it's a nice jumping-off point, but not really a long-term career place for a lot of game developers or artists.
In my two years at the company, I watched a lot of long-time folks leave. In fact, there was a "1991 LucasArts Yearbook" on the wall outside the Admiral Snackbar (lunch room) that had pictures and names of all the employees as of 1991. All those who were gone had a blue slash through their picture. I believe there were about 30 or so remaining when I started and about 2 when I left.
Anyway, I can't tell you why Ron Gilbert left, as I didn't work directly with him, but Michael Land was the guy who hired me and I worked for him up until he departed.
Michael, Peter McConnell, and Michael McMahon came up with a software idea and have been working on that ever since. Clint Bajakian left a few weeks later to be a freelance composer, mainly because he didn't want to be the guy holding the clipboard. Julian Kwasneski left to work at a DotBomb that many other ILM and LucasArts people left for. He subsequently left the DotBomb and is now partnered with Clint.
I left because all the people above were really what made working at LucasArts a joy. I could overlook the low pay and ridiculous hours. I could even overlook the exceedingly outdated production hardware, but the people were what made it for me.
You'll be happy to know that most of us who have left the Sound Dept. at LucasArts are still doing work for them! Clint and Julian's company, Bay Area Sound Deptartment, is regularly employed to create sound and music. And Clint very often hires Michael Land and Peter McConnell to compose on LucasArts projects, as well as others.
We all work together on a regular basis on other game projects, too! Clint, Julian, and I have worked on Big Ape's "Celebrity Death Match", as well as a handful of sports titles for Sony Computer Entertainment. We've also contributed to Maxis and EA.
Sorry, I do sound. I made all the backgrounds and many of the sound effects, as well as other sound-related fun.
If you want to know why something sounds a certain way or how we made the sound, that I can help with. Otherwise, I'm just as clueless as you are about the issue!
A case in point would the Fool and his Money the sequel to the Fool's Errand.
I've been waiting for this game for well over a year and it keeps getting delayed. It's merely puzzles and story, yet it's not an easy thing to create.
When I was working at LucasArts, I bitched about the same thing. My last full project was Monkey 4 and I still laugh heartily when I play that game.
Grim was fantastically received by the critics, but didn't sell very well.
This is the problem LEC always claims is keeping them from making adventure games: fantastic critical acclaim, little monetary recovery.
Personally, I don't understand it, apart from knowing that an adventure game is probably not likely to sell as many copies as KotoR, but it's still worthwhile.
I wish Sierra Online was still making Al Lowe adventures and the like.
I have a bottle of Skywalker Chardonnay from 2000. When I worked at LucasArts, I inquired about obtaining a bottle and was told it was impossible; that George keeps it for special occasions only.
Just to show my colleagues that I don't like being told things can't be done, I pulled a few strings and got a bottle from an undisclosed source.
I don't know about the "Viandante del Cielo", but I'm fairly certain my bottle's label is Cielo Caminante.
Indeed you are slightly mistaken here. Since Apple is now a debt free company, it makes it a more attractive buy for someone else since they do not have to take more debt, it makes it more attractive.
Oh. I see. Instead, we'll have to endure the "Apple is going to be bought by Disney" rumors again. Lucky us.
If you as a business consultant, they'll tell you the best thing you can do for a home business is pay off your house, but exercise a line of equity. You don't have to actually USE the equity line, and no one can tell how much you HAVE used.
So, someone who slips and falls on your property and considers suing you simply to take your house will think twice, as you may have borrowed a huge amount on it and it would cost them more to repay it.
I'm sure corporations exercise similar concepts. Being out-of-debt is always a good thing. Ensuring that you don't look like a good target requires creative ways of _appearing_ in debt.
They're not already through the roof? As soon as Comcast took over ATTBI, our rates went up about 45%.
Then, all the analysts said, "Comcast may irritate some of their customers into using rival broadband solutions."
Of course, they failed to take into account that in many areas (such as mine), there are NO rivals. We can't get DSL here because SBC and Covad refuse to bring it out to us. We can't get microwave broadband because we can't see the transmission tower. All we can get is Residential Cable modem for $60/mo or a T1 for $600/mo.
Oh, and IDSL for $100/mo (144kbps).
I bet Comcast wouldn't have 5.3 mil broadband subscribers if there _was_ actual competition.
The "dancing black" you are referring to is VITC time code. It actually is quite easy to replace this. All you need is a VITC regenerator. However, it is unlikely that this form of tagging would be used for anything beyond VHS cassettes, which is what made it so easy to nab Caridi in the first place.
Since VHS duplication still requires running through the tape's full length, you can just put a VITC regen inbetween the source and the destination.
DVDs, however, require MPEG-2 encoding each time you alter the video signal.
Slashdot Mirror
I have Panasonic 2.4 GHz phones and 802.11b WiFi routers. I've had many problems with interference, but did finally find a solution that seems to work. I set the 802.11b AP for channel 11 and the phones don't seem to jump to that channel.
Ever since I did that, I've had no internet outages that were phone-related.
The funding issue with Disney & Miramax was simply a great example of the left middle finger not knowing what the right middle finger was doing.
Disney owns a controlling interest in Miramax, but doesn't often step in and make decisions for them. Miramax used to be owned by the Weinsteins. They are now the top brass of the company, but do have to do whatever Disney says, since they really control the company.
The Weinsteins funded the making of F 9/11, but it wasn't until the film began making big headlines that Disney's top brass started to worry about their own wallets should the Bush Administration be removed from power.
At that point, they forbade Miramax to release the film, but told the Weinsteins that they could purchase the rights back, but only with their own money. Also, Miramax was restricted by Disney from distributing the film, which would make use of Disney's distribution channels.
Thankfully, the Weinsteins have been at this a long time and were able to take care of business anyway.
Even worse, this seems like a paraphrase of the story I submitted two days ago (rejected, of course).
Same here.
It sorta reminds me of the train bridge that passes Champion's home in Triplets of Belleville.
I had one of those today, actually.
I've been implementing a new X10 network in my home and purchased a Leviton 4-unit controller for my bedroom.
Now, I've never used any Leviton X10 modules before, but they're nicely designed, although pricey.
Anyway, I can get the unit to dim and brighten lamps, but not directly turn them on or off! On top of that, the unit registers when I use another controller to change the state, updating the LEDs on the unit's face.
When I called Leviton to ask why their controller is doing this, the tech support guy said that it's their own system, not X10, and that they don't claim to have any compatibility whatsoever.
Funny. Every place I've seen selling the Leviton modules is selling them as X10.
I did finally get the unit to work, but it took programming it with a macro using my computer interface.
CNN story
It's interesting that the government looks for market-based solutions to behavior that actually kills people like dumping mercury into the air, serving arsenic-laden water to towns, or creating vehicular death-traps but when you offend their puritan sensibilities they go for the jugular--even when the market clearly says that a HUGE chunk of the electorate is all for a little obscenity.
Actually, it makes sense when you think about it. These christian fundamentalists all believe that the apocalypse is around the corner and that Jesus will return and set everything right again.
So, don't sweat destroying the planet! Jesus will fix it all in a couple years!
What economic numbers are you looking at?
How about the quantity of people I know _personally_ who haven't had work in well over a year?
Just because Wal*mart is making a profit doesn't mean that people can pay their friggin' rent.
Let's see, we've had the worst economy in decades, so let's attack a harmless portion of that economy that hasn't fallen prey to BushCo's efforts to put all the money into the hands of the richest 1%.
That's wonderful. I'm so glad I live in the open-minded USA.
hey, check your e-mail Id like to talk to you privately :)
I haven't received any email from you, so if you sent one, I didn't get it. I also tried emailing you with the address above.
I always considered lucasarts adventure games to be the equivalent of a studios "prestidge picture". A prestidge pic is a movie the studio knows will probably loose a few bucks, but they make it to make ART instead of money.
:)
LEC managers see them the same way, or at least they did. But they seem less willing to take the risks on them now. It's really too bad.
Tell me who is buying all those stupid star wars games?
I have no clue, but they're not really my kind of games. At LEC, they would regularly have what was known as a "Pizza Orgy". That is a situation where the project would setup about 2 dozen computers in the hockey rink (just outside of the Sound Dept.) and buy pizza and beer for anyone in the company who wanted to come down and play the in-production game for a little while, filling out a comment sheet.
I found most of the Pizza Orgies to be a nice opportunity to eat pizza, but wasn't interested in any of the games. And rarely were there any other Sound Dept. people at the orgies for longer than a few minutes.
However, when the Monkey 4 orgy happened, it was a lot more subdued. Far fewer people attended, but a good representation of the Sound Dept. was there! In fact, there's a picture of 4 computers in a row at the Monkey 4 orgy with myself, Michael Land, Clint Bajakian, and Peter McConnell all playing Monkey.
Do you have any insight into why they keep loosing all their talented desginers? (ron gilbert, the guy grim fandago guy, michael land)
Also its clear why they suck -- they keep turning down my resumes! heh
LEC has had vast turnover since before I worked there, although it seems that the turnover was extremely high during my tenure.
For example, during my time, the IT department rotated fully more than twice! The fact is that LEC pays badly and there aren't really many perks. So, it's a nice jumping-off point, but not really a long-term career place for a lot of game developers or artists.
In my two years at the company, I watched a lot of long-time folks leave. In fact, there was a "1991 LucasArts Yearbook" on the wall outside the Admiral Snackbar (lunch room) that had pictures and names of all the employees as of 1991. All those who were gone had a blue slash through their picture. I believe there were about 30 or so remaining when I started and about 2 when I left.
Anyway, I can't tell you why Ron Gilbert left, as I didn't work directly with him, but Michael Land was the guy who hired me and I worked for him up until he departed.
Michael, Peter McConnell, and Michael McMahon came up with a software idea and have been working on that ever since. Clint Bajakian left a few weeks later to be a freelance composer, mainly because he didn't want to be the guy holding the clipboard. Julian Kwasneski left to work at a DotBomb that many other ILM and LucasArts people left for. He subsequently left the DotBomb and is now partnered with Clint.
I left because all the people above were really what made working at LucasArts a joy. I could overlook the low pay and ridiculous hours. I could even overlook the exceedingly outdated production hardware, but the people were what made it for me.
You'll be happy to know that most of us who have left the Sound Dept. at LucasArts are still doing work for them! Clint and Julian's company, Bay Area Sound Deptartment, is regularly employed to create sound and music. And Clint very often hires Michael Land and Peter McConnell to compose on LucasArts projects, as well as others.
We all work together on a regular basis on other game projects, too! Clint, Julian, and I have worked on Big Ape's "Celebrity Death Match", as well as a handful of sports titles for Sony Computer Entertainment. We've also contributed to Maxis and EA.
Sorry, I do sound. I made all the backgrounds and many of the sound effects, as well as other sound-related fun.
If you want to know why something sounds a certain way or how we made the sound, that I can help with. Otherwise, I'm just as clueless as you are about the issue!
A case in point would the Fool and his Money the sequel to the Fool's Errand.
I've been waiting for this game for well over a year and it keeps getting delayed. It's merely puzzles and story, yet it's not an easy thing to create.
Mr. GF Lucas has about as much hands-on affiliation with LucasArts as does GW Bush with the rest of humanity.
At least when I worked at LEC, George came to visit once in my 2 years...and that was to a company meeting at the nearby Civic Center.
When I was working at LucasArts, I bitched about the same thing. My last full project was Monkey 4 and I still laugh heartily when I play that game.
Grim was fantastically received by the critics, but didn't sell very well.
This is the problem LEC always claims is keeping them from making adventure games: fantastic critical acclaim, little monetary recovery.
Personally, I don't understand it, apart from knowing that an adventure game is probably not likely to sell as many copies as KotoR, but it's still worthwhile.
I wish Sierra Online was still making Al Lowe adventures and the like.
That sounds about right. If Apple is beleaguered and dying, Bluetooth must also be going away soon.
Actually, the article might have it wrong.
I have a bottle of Skywalker Chardonnay from 2000. When I worked at LucasArts, I inquired about obtaining a bottle and was told it was impossible; that George keeps it for special occasions only.
Just to show my colleagues that I don't like being told things can't be done, I pulled a few strings and got a bottle from an undisclosed source.
I don't know about the "Viandante del Cielo", but I'm fairly certain my bottle's label is Cielo Caminante.
Dude, vote for whoever, I'm not American and however you decide to fuck up your country really doesn't affect me at all. Enjoy!
Yeah, until BushCo decides that your country has something his cronies wants. Then you'll be sorry.
Somebody, please think of Metallica's welfare, though! They might lose a few dollars from all these malicious lawsuits.
Indeed you are slightly mistaken here. Since Apple is now a debt free company, it makes it a more attractive buy for someone else since they do not have to take more debt, it makes it more attractive.
Oh. I see. Instead, we'll have to endure the "Apple is going to be bought by Disney" rumors again. Lucky us.
Also, keep in mind the concept of a poison pill.
If you as a business consultant, they'll tell you the best thing you can do for a home business is pay off your house, but exercise a line of equity. You don't have to actually USE the equity line, and no one can tell how much you HAVE used.
So, someone who slips and falls on your property and considers suing you simply to take your house will think twice, as you may have borrowed a huge amount on it and it would cost them more to repay it.
I'm sure corporations exercise similar concepts. Being out-of-debt is always a good thing. Ensuring that you don't look like a good target requires creative ways of _appearing_ in debt.
They're not already through the roof? As soon as Comcast took over ATTBI, our rates went up about 45%.
Then, all the analysts said, "Comcast may irritate some of their customers into using rival broadband solutions."
Of course, they failed to take into account that in many areas (such as mine), there are NO rivals. We can't get DSL here because SBC and Covad refuse to bring it out to us. We can't get microwave broadband because we can't see the transmission tower. All we can get is Residential Cable modem for $60/mo or a T1 for $600/mo.
Oh, and IDSL for $100/mo (144kbps).
I bet Comcast wouldn't have 5.3 mil broadband subscribers if there _was_ actual competition.
The "dancing black" you are referring to is VITC time code. It actually is quite easy to replace this. All you need is a VITC regenerator. However, it is unlikely that this form of tagging would be used for anything beyond VHS cassettes, which is what made it so easy to nab Caridi in the first place.
Since VHS duplication still requires running through the tape's full length, you can just put a VITC regen inbetween the source and the destination.
DVDs, however, require MPEG-2 encoding each time you alter the video signal.
Did you read the experience requirements:
Must be knowledgeable in the operation and design of Unix, Linux, or BSD.
I love it!
This is one situation where I hope it will work only under Windows.