On the upside, the trackpad does at least support some gesture-type stuff. Click with two fingers on the trackpad = right click. Or a two-finger tap, if you're using tap-to-click
iTunes happily offers non-DRM songs (with higher bitrate, for 30 cents extra). Problem: Labels don't want to. The only problem that record companies have with iTunes is that Apple doesn't let them set prices however they like. Apple is, as usual, a bit of a control freak here, but I think we've seen that record companies shouldn't be trusted with things like setting prices on music.
Don't forget that you can use Boot Camp (which should be out of beta and installed by default for the Leopard release) to install Windows XP (or, perish the thought, Vista) and then play your PC Games anyway. Of course, you're probably better off sticking to the Wii, but the option is there.
Why no IP-to-IP action? Technical concerns? The system could try to do this (check to see if there's a NAT in the way, check to see if we've got exposed ports anyway, try to ask the gateway to give us some ports via UPnP, etc), and then fall back on hosted if it has to. Privacy concerns? Possibly, though getting a random user's IP address isn't that useful these days since botnets are powerful enough to sweep large chunks of IP space anyway. Cheating concerns? There's a possibility. "Never trust the client" doesn't work if there's no server.
But that's all for online play. DS games that allow online play usually also allow LAN play (wireless, of course). I can see something similar being available for Wii games. Detect another Wii in wireless range? Let's play! Would be nice to include "advanced setup" to allow direct IP-to-IP play using your wireless network or the 10baseT adapter, but that's getting further from likelihood.
Positrons aren't actually that hard to find. All you need is (trying to remember Chem 2) an isotope that produces beta+ radiation. Heard of a PET scan? The P is for Positron. They put some radioactive sugar in your brain and map where the annihilations occur to determine brain activity.
Maybe the new release of an Office suite for OS X might help, but the only way I can see Apple gaining on HP, Dell, etc, is by ramping up production and selling Macs in all the major outlets - Circuit City, Walmart, etc, instead of the cool but boutique-type Apple stores.
I was surprised the other week to see an Apple section in my local Best Buy, out in the open and obvious and stuff. Which was nice, because I wanted to buy a mini-DVI adapter.
There was even a big sign by the door advertising this new addition. So maybe they are trying?
Sounds like Second Life. SL is a great idea with a horrible implementation. If Sony can do it better, then great. With their current track record, though, I would fully expect them to make a marvelous technical wonder and then slap on some draconian Evil Shit(TM) or other random nonsense (Only $70/month!) which would make it a complete turnoff. I'll be impressed if they manage not to screw it up. I intend to purchase a PS3 or two for purely research purposes (though I might just spring for a real Cell Blade), but if things improve I might actually purchase games for it. Maybe.
Idea: install the voting machines permanently, all over the place. Let people vote whenever they feel like, within about a month of the normal voting date, and see real-time results. The rest of the time, the voting machines can serve as terminals through which people can walk up and inform their local, state, or federal representatives of their opinions on various issues that will be discussed/voted on soon. Maybe even let the people actually vote on things.
Of course, DieBold shouldn't be allowed to touch this kind of thing, and someone will find a way to abuse it, but probably not any worse than we've got right now. I hope.
The PS3 is a relatively cheap Cell platform. It might work well as a test bed for some Cell stuff I would like to work on, and I could afford one even without the grant I would need to afford more serious Cell hardware. I have a Wii for games, so I probably wouldn't want it for that purpose. Though I suppose if there was a PS3-only game I just had to play (or was lent and forced to play by gamer friends), I might drag the thing home and play with it, but it's not likely in the near future. Someone forced a PS2 on me a couple years ago, and to this day I have purchased exactly two games for it, and then mostly out of guilt for not utilizing perfectly good gaming hardware.
You can change the SIM in the iPhone too (there are pictures of the software demanding that the SIM be inserted). However, like many US phones, it is vendor locked and can only be used with SIMs from a particular provider. If Apple drops the exclusive deal with AT&T (which they can do in two years), they'll probably send out unlock codes via Software Update. Maybe.
I can see it now. Imagine a lifelike city full of sims that have their own constantly changing and evolving lives. Imagine that you are one of them, exploring the city, interacting with its people, making friends and enemies, having a job, maybe making a little romance. What is this city? Paris. Occupied by the Germans. And you are a brave member of the resistance. Can you take down the occupiers by night while keeping your business and home life in shape? Keep your bank books in the black while keeping your radio equipment and firearms well stocked and hidden? Explore this and other simulated occupied historical cities in Sim City 5, coming soon!
In the past, there has been a button in the installer that lets you specify somewhat more precisely how to do the installation. This includes a drop box that allows the user to choose among the (supported) filesystems included in that release. This isn't nearly as complex or feature-rich as is included in various Linux distribution installers, but is at least good enough for most power users. Anyone who needs more advanced features than this has probably noticed that before beginning the installer there is a menu which includes various utilities, one of which is the Disk Utility for all of your partitioning and RAIDing needs.
His argument is not that there is no market for DRM protected content (that's another story). His argument is that DRM is not actually possible, and that trying to control a market using a technology that violates the laws of information theory is probably a bad idea.
The brain is good at controlling things. Most people are able to think "rm -rf" without accidently saying it out loud or typing it into the keyboard they have their hands on. Try this: Think "Stand!" at your legs, as though you were trying to command them telepathically. This (probably) doesn't have any effect, because your legs aren't controlled by your "inner voice". Instead, you stand up by moving your legs in a particular fashion. With a properly calibrated neural interface (and training), the device would do things when you make it do things, not when you think commands at it. Unless perhaps you improperly calibrate it to do things when you think commands at it, which would probably not be a good idea.
I've never known it to autoreboot. I don't think it has a timer on the dialog or anything like that. I usually don't want to reboot when it wants to, so I just force-quit the updater once it is done. It will reboot when I feel like it.
This would be much easier if rocket scientists properly commented their projects. When I open a panel on my lunar lander module, the first thing I want to see is a Post-It Note that helpfully says:
// ok, I tried all the components in box m56, and this one seems like it fits right. // it should probably work. If not, the thingy under panel 245 looks // like it should fit. Either way, it makes the lights blink.
The N800's Maemo distribution is based on Debian, and while it does have a development community, things are a bit lacking right now. Would be nice if this device were supported, since a dist for many devices will probably get more development done for it than a dist for approximately two devices.
Shouldn't stripping the debugger symbols from the executable be sufficient? The problem is that people don't give up that easily. Having everything obviously labeled made the job quicker, but not having those won't stop a sufficiently skilled/bored hacker.
Just have your next clone execute you. The charges won't apply to him, and he might even get a promotion for executing a commie mutant traitor such as yourself.
Slashdot Mirror
On the upside, the trackpad does at least support some gesture-type stuff. Click with two fingers on the trackpad = right click. Or a two-finger tap, if you're using tap-to-click
But where did you put your magic bag while you were in there? It's dangerous to bring those inside, you know.
iTunes happily offers non-DRM songs (with higher bitrate, for 30 cents extra). Problem: Labels don't want to. The only problem that record companies have with iTunes is that Apple doesn't let them set prices however they like. Apple is, as usual, a bit of a control freak here, but I think we've seen that record companies shouldn't be trusted with things like setting prices on music.
Don't forget that you can use Boot Camp (which should be out of beta and installed by default for the Leopard release) to install Windows XP (or, perish the thought, Vista) and then play your PC Games anyway. Of course, you're probably better off sticking to the Wii, but the option is there.
Why no IP-to-IP action? Technical concerns? The system could try to do this (check to see if there's a NAT in the way, check to see if we've got exposed ports anyway, try to ask the gateway to give us some ports via UPnP, etc), and then fall back on hosted if it has to. Privacy concerns? Possibly, though getting a random user's IP address isn't that useful these days since botnets are powerful enough to sweep large chunks of IP space anyway. Cheating concerns? There's a possibility. "Never trust the client" doesn't work if there's no server.
But that's all for online play. DS games that allow online play usually also allow LAN play (wireless, of course). I can see something similar being available for Wii games. Detect another Wii in wireless range? Let's play! Would be nice to include "advanced setup" to allow direct IP-to-IP play using your wireless network or the 10baseT adapter, but that's getting further from likelihood.
Positrons aren't actually that hard to find. All you need is (trying to remember Chem 2) an isotope that produces beta+ radiation. Heard of a PET scan? The P is for Positron. They put some radioactive sugar in your brain and map where the annihilations occur to determine brain activity.
Maybe the new release of an Office suite for OS X might help, but the only way I can see Apple gaining on HP, Dell, etc, is by ramping up production and selling Macs in all the major outlets - Circuit City, Walmart, etc, instead of the cool but boutique-type Apple stores.
I was surprised the other week to see an Apple section in my local Best Buy, out in the open and obvious and stuff. Which was nice, because I wanted to buy a mini-DVI adapter. There was even a big sign by the door advertising this new addition. So maybe they are trying?
Sounds like Second Life. SL is a great idea with a horrible implementation. If Sony can do it better, then great. With their current track record, though, I would fully expect them to make a marvelous technical wonder and then slap on some draconian Evil Shit(TM) or other random nonsense (Only $70/month!) which would make it a complete turnoff. I'll be impressed if they manage not to screw it up. I intend to purchase a PS3 or two for purely research purposes (though I might just spring for a real Cell Blade), but if things improve I might actually purchase games for it. Maybe.
Idea: install the voting machines permanently, all over the place. Let people vote whenever they feel like, within about a month of the normal voting date, and see real-time results. The rest of the time, the voting machines can serve as terminals through which people can walk up and inform their local, state, or federal representatives of their opinions on various issues that will be discussed/voted on soon. Maybe even let the people actually vote on things.
Of course, DieBold shouldn't be allowed to touch this kind of thing, and someone will find a way to abuse it, but probably not any worse than we've got right now. I hope.
How could you forget the Power Glove and ROB the robot thingy?
The PS3 is a relatively cheap Cell platform. It might work well as a test bed for some Cell stuff I would like to work on, and I could afford one even without the grant I would need to afford more serious Cell hardware. I have a Wii for games, so I probably wouldn't want it for that purpose. Though I suppose if there was a PS3-only game I just had to play (or was lent and forced to play by gamer friends), I might drag the thing home and play with it, but it's not likely in the near future. Someone forced a PS2 on me a couple years ago, and to this day I have purchased exactly two games for it, and then mostly out of guilt for not utilizing perfectly good gaming hardware.
You can change the SIM in the iPhone too (there are pictures of the software demanding that the SIM be inserted). However, like many US phones, it is vendor locked and can only be used with SIMs from a particular provider. If Apple drops the exclusive deal with AT&T (which they can do in two years), they'll probably send out unlock codes via Software Update. Maybe.
You think that ISPs would drop prices due to a reduction in costs? I want to live in this fantasy world of yours.
Too late. They can't just hijack such a much loved and praised franchise as SimTown! (Disclaimer: I have never seen or played SimTown.)
I can see it now. Imagine a lifelike city full of sims that have their own constantly changing and evolving lives. Imagine that you are one of them, exploring the city, interacting with its people, making friends and enemies, having a job, maybe making a little romance. What is this city? Paris. Occupied by the Germans. And you are a brave member of the resistance. Can you take down the occupiers by night while keeping your business and home life in shape? Keep your bank books in the black while keeping your radio equipment and firearms well stocked and hidden? Explore this and other simulated occupied historical cities in Sim City 5, coming soon!
In the past, there has been a button in the installer that lets you specify somewhat more precisely how to do the installation. This includes a drop box that allows the user to choose among the (supported) filesystems included in that release. This isn't nearly as complex or feature-rich as is included in various Linux distribution installers, but is at least good enough for most power users. Anyone who needs more advanced features than this has probably noticed that before beginning the installer there is a menu which includes various utilities, one of which is the Disk Utility for all of your partitioning and RAIDing needs.
His argument is not that there is no market for DRM protected content (that's another story). His argument is that DRM is not actually possible, and that trying to control a market using a technology that violates the laws of information theory is probably a bad idea.
The brain is good at controlling things. Most people are able to think "rm -rf" without accidently saying it out loud or typing it into the keyboard they have their hands on. Try this: Think "Stand!" at your legs, as though you were trying to command them telepathically. This (probably) doesn't have any effect, because your legs aren't controlled by your "inner voice". Instead, you stand up by moving your legs in a particular fashion. With a properly calibrated neural interface (and training), the device would do things when you make it do things, not when you think commands at it. Unless perhaps you improperly calibrate it to do things when you think commands at it, which would probably not be a good idea.
I've never known it to autoreboot. I don't think it has a timer on the dialog or anything like that. I usually don't want to reboot when it wants to, so I just force-quit the updater once it is done. It will reboot when I feel like it.
Talk like that gives me a large hadron.
This would be much easier if rocket scientists properly commented their projects. When I open a panel on my lunar lander module, the first thing I want to see is a Post-It Note that helpfully says:
// ok, I tried all the components in box m56, and this one seems like it fits right.
// it should probably work. If not, the thingy under panel 245 looks
// like it should fit. Either way, it makes the lights blink.
The N800's Maemo distribution is based on Debian, and while it does have a development community, things are a bit lacking right now. Would be nice if this device were supported, since a dist for many devices will probably get more development done for it than a dist for approximately two devices.
Shouldn't stripping the debugger symbols from the executable be sufficient? The problem is that people don't give up that easily. Having everything obviously labeled made the job quicker, but not having those won't stop a sufficiently skilled/bored hacker.
I wonder if any of them ended up on Another World?
Just have your next clone execute you. The charges won't apply to him, and he might even get a promotion for executing a commie mutant traitor such as yourself.