As the ubiquitous browser that is utilized to access the internet, we all depend on IE too much to have crooks, social deviants, malcontents and crackers from messing with our lifestyles and our livelihoods.
And as most of us here on Slashdot would say: That's exactly why it SHOULDN'T be the ubiquitous browser. And despite it all, it still is.
When are we going to get decent working SVG support for Mozilla (and Phoenix) in X then? Last I checked, we're still stuck with libart (which can't be officially included in Mozilla thanks to the lack of a tri-license) and the infamous Bug 111152 was still open...
How can you trademark the Dewey Decimal System? Sounds more like a patentable system to me... So how did it get filed under the trademark category? (Nice to know they've registered it under the one class of IP which never expires as long as you pay. I mean, look, it says it was created in 1873!)
I will agree with you, but only for the iPod. I've never seen Apple Corps release a music player. The RESALE of music however is a much trickier issue that will likely be ruled in Apple (the Beatles') favor, as it is for all intents and purposes impossible to distinguish Apple (Computer's) intent with the iTunes music store from the topic the agreement was made about.
My opinion? Music PLAYERS (iTunes, iPod, speakers) would not violate. iTMS *DOES*. (Well, there is a subtle distinction in that Apple serves as a store, but in the modern computer age, distribution through the internet is just as good as manufacturing/label.
I've been wondering why Corps didn't do it sooner, since I knew it was inevitable. All I can see is an uphill battle for Apple.
That this could merely be an easier way for the RIAA to get a complete list of every P2P user to sue? If the P2P services have to keep a database on the children (and others, as it is the logical extension of the law, and not much more difficult to do), the RIAA can merely say "Hey, give us the database so we can attack the right people."
Of course, by "right people", they would mean every P2P user. Just for good measure. This could easily be the first step on the gradual destruction of Peer-to-Peer networking as a whole, not only for transferring of illegal files.
Sure they present decent ideas that will inevitably be accepted (see Dreamcast's failure, except for the introduction of new online gaming on the console), but they are a bit early on the draw, and they are presenting them in a problematic format.
Ngage for example: Sure wireless portable gaming is a great idea, and I would not be too surprised if it made it into the next-generation GBA (or the generation after next), but there are too many design flaws with the Ngage for it to actually succeed. See it's high price (if you're going to exclusively use it for gaming) and the difficulty in changing games (you have to remove the BATTERY?)
Phantom: It's the Xbox, except a little more problematic. It doesn't have much in the way of decent developers (thus far) and it is bound exclusively to contact online for a compulsory fee. You can't go EXCLUSIVELY online with ytour games. Gamers like to own their own games too, and not every gamer has online access.
In summary: Yes, they provide great new ideas, but they are simply implemented poorly by new entries into the arena that have a high chance of failure. But only time will tell if their prophesies will be true in the long run (and I wager they will be)
You're using IE aren't you? It's optimized for Mozilla (standards-compliant). The gray text is a hack to make it remotely similar to the Mozilla layout (thanks to the broken CSS fixed support in IE...)
The real truth about these sales figures and future sales opportunities is that no single gaming system fan can be trusted with anything he or she has read regarding one system selling better, or performing better than the other.
Until there's a consistent third-party reporting on all three companies the various sales figures, while perhaps having some value taken on their own, become meaningless when compared to one another.
This is quite true, and I won't dispute it. But it's hard to get worldwide figures other than from the companies themselves. They're all going to inflate their own figures and deflate the others... (Why do you think she claimed Xbox was in second place worldwide? Certainly not because she trusted Nintendo's sales figures.)
The idea that Microsoft should be supportive of Linux on their machine is at best naive. Why should they offer more legitimacy [than they have to] to a competitor? Further, why should they support such a feature that would inevitably cause increased sales of a product that isn't a revenue generator while probably minimizing the attach rate of the software, on which they DO make money?
A very good point that I won't dispute. After all, this is Microsoft, and they really have no interest in Linux anyways (aside from killing it). It's just rather interesting that she evaded the whole question rather than giving it more straightly to a person who clearly knew more about what was going on than other questioners.
Ultimately Linux on the Xbox will be thanks to the people trying to get it on, with no help from MS (not even from those hackers who tried to "bargain" with MS to not release the font exploit on the 4th of July). Not through bargains or anything else. I knew that the question was loaded, and I understood the majority of the true reasons behind not letting it on when I asked the question.
Now it is true that I was rather childish with my titling... ^^;; But in any case, I merely state the truth as to what I heard and said, and you cannot claim that other fanboys are much better... All fanboys are the same, more or less ^^;; Just thank god I back up my claims with proof unlike others who are worse than me...
My honest opinion of the Xbox? Mediocre, mostly thanks to the lack of decent games aside from Sega and Halo, and the occasional decent game that isn't from either... (I think there are about 2 or 3 of these, but there aren't that many and I can't think of any names of the top of my head. I do have an Xbox though, so I do have experience with the system.)
I'm not EXACTLY pro-Linux-on-Xbox, but I find it an admirable goal, as an Xbox is a ratehr powerful machine for a cheap price, and by installing Linux, and buying 10 of them ($1750) you can have a nice cluster of PIII-750 boxes for the price of 1 high-end P4 3GHz machine.
The other thing is that I do think Linux on an Xbox is rather hilarious!
As for Linux on the Cube, it would be interesting, but there isn't nearly enough functionality to really accomplish too much (e.g. no integrated ethernet, no hard drive, no ability to use normal CDs). It'd be interesting, but I seriously doubt there are any good reasons for using it, unlike the PS2 and Xbox with hard drives and ethernet...
1. PS2: 51.2 million worldwide (As of March) 2. Gamecube: 9.55 million worldwide (As of March) 3. Xbox: 9.4 million worldwide (As of July)
US figures are:
1. PS2: 17.7 million (As of May) 2. Xbox: 6.2 million (As of May?) 3. Gamecube: About 4 million? (figures not known, but estimated to be 2 million under Xbox)
It is true that Nintendo is third place in the US... And for that they are suffering a bit. Don't get me wrong, I am a Nintendo fanboy (and to a lesser extent Square, and by extension, Sony) who hates Xbox with a passion, but Nintendo isn't going anywhere in the States, and it's got a tough time ahead of it. Best wait for the secret announcement later.
Elsewhere, Nintendo takes the cake, even worldwide it takes second-place with 9.55 million units (as of March) sold to 9.4 million Xboxes (as of July) (consider the fact that Xbox sales are biased towards the US, and you get a more interesting picture of the world sales. For links on the info, look at the link at the bottom of this post.). So Nintendo is hardly down and out.
And that brings me to my anecdote. Earlier this month, I had the privilege to sit in a two-hour open forum featuring four highly respected people in the gaming industry. One of these was Ms. Laura Fryer, Director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group.
Naturally, as a Slashdotter, I decided to ask Ms. Fryer the two hard hitting questions:
Why does Microsoft refuse to give Linux a legitimate license for use? (Yes, the ultimate "MS Answer" was obvious, but I wanted to irk her...)
What does Microsoft plan to do about the fact that they are in third place worldwide?
The initial response? "Them's fighting words!"
She went on to address my second question first, dismissing it as untrue. Of course, I found evidence to the contrary later on, but the fact is that she lied about it.
Then of course, there was the Linux part of the question, which she dodged, mentioning something about "security" before going on about "intellectual property" issues (nVidia and Intel have problems with Linux on the Xbox? This is the way she tried to paint it...)
In any case, though the public opinion coming out of it was quite likely biased for her ("She's in the industry! She knows what she's talking about!") The fact of the matter is she blatently lied and danced around my question. Needless to say, it's quite ego-boosting to realize that a 17-year-old kid had to make a member of MS management lie and dance around the answer...
As for more information on the incident, you can see my blog entry on the subject.
As several others have said: Roll your own version. That is what offering the source is for anyway.
In fact, just the other day (yesterday) I rolled a nightly Firebird install (optimized for Athlon) with SVG support. I've yet to test it though. (If you want it, just ask)
The other problem? They've yet to fix bug #111152...
Actually, IE implements gamma improperly too in some cases. I believe this is what causes colors that look fine in photoshop to NOT look analogous to HTML specified colors. It also loses its ability to view png files on occasions (as one of my friends can attest to) See http://libpng.org/pub/png/pngapbr.html#msie-win-un ix
Pinging www.pathfinder.mars [178.223.52.43] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 178.223.52.43: bytes=32 time=2678674ms TTL=53 Reply from 178.223.52.43: bytes=32 time=2679146ms TTL=53 Reply from 178.223.52.43: bytes=32 time=2678608ms TTL=53 Reply from 178.223.52.43: bytes=32 time=2679568ms TTL=53
Ping statistics for 178.223.52.43: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 60ms, Maximum = 183ms, Average = 114ms
That's nearly 44 minutes round trip for light, and that's only to Mars at opposition. Imagine how long it is to Pluto at opposition. What is it that they say? It was 20-30 hours round-trip to contact Pioneer 10?
Slashdot Mirror
As the ubiquitous browser that is utilized to access the internet, we all depend on IE too much to have crooks, social deviants, malcontents and crackers from messing with our lifestyles and our livelihoods.
And as most of us here on Slashdot would say: That's exactly why it SHOULDN'T be the ubiquitous browser. And despite it all, it still is.
So Konqueror will have decent SVG support now.
When are we going to get decent working SVG support for Mozilla (and Phoenix) in X then? Last I checked, we're still stuck with libart (which can't be officially included in Mozilla thanks to the lack of a tri-license) and the infamous Bug 111152 was still open...
Intel: "Oh my god this is so AWESOME because we have super high gigahertzian-ness and you dooooooooon't!"
AMD: "Uh... We don't need GHz to keep up. That's what We have these new nifty + ratings eh?"
Intel: "Uh... HYPER-THREADING! WE'RE AWESOME!"
AMD: "And we have a better 64-bit processor than your dinky Itanium. It doesn't need to 'emulate'. What a bunch of idiots."
Intel: "OMG OMG! WE HAVE ULTRA 1337 SPEED! I MEAN 5-7 GHZ AND 4 GHZ FSB! I MEAN AREN'T WE COOL! 64-BIT EXTENSIONS!"
AMD: "... Shut up. Better yet, don't shut up. It's good for our business, because at least we're delivering."
I never knew that unwanted harassment on a system I pay to be a part of was "free" speech...
How can you trademark the Dewey Decimal System? Sounds more like a patentable system to me... So how did it get filed under the trademark category? (Nice to know they've registered it under the one class of IP which never expires as long as you pay. I mean, look, it says it was created in 1873!)
Mod parent down! I don't see anything about protocols
Ah! I meant the Computer manufacturer.
I agree with you on the former part. Apple WILL probably spin it off into a shell corporation, but not before being forced to pay out $$$ to Corps.
I will agree with you, but only for the iPod. I've never seen Apple Corps release a music player. The RESALE of music however is a much trickier issue that will likely be ruled in Apple (the Beatles') favor, as it is for all intents and purposes impossible to distinguish Apple (Computer's) intent with the iTunes music store from the topic the agreement was made about.
My opinion? Music PLAYERS (iTunes, iPod, speakers) would not violate. iTMS *DOES*. (Well, there is a subtle distinction in that Apple serves as a store, but in the modern computer age, distribution through the internet is just as good as manufacturing/label.
I've been wondering why Corps didn't do it sooner, since I knew it was inevitable. All I can see is an uphill battle for Apple.
That this could merely be an easier way for the RIAA to get a complete list of every P2P user to sue? If the P2P services have to keep a database on the children (and others, as it is the logical extension of the law, and not much more difficult to do), the RIAA can merely say "Hey, give us the database so we can attack the right people."
Of course, by "right people", they would mean every P2P user. Just for good measure. This could easily be the first step on the gradual destruction of Peer-to-Peer networking as a whole, not only for transferring of illegal files.
Sure they present decent ideas that will inevitably be accepted (see Dreamcast's failure, except for the introduction of new online gaming on the console), but they are a bit early on the draw, and they are presenting them in a problematic format.
Ngage for example: Sure wireless portable gaming is a great idea, and I would not be too surprised if it made it into the next-generation GBA (or the generation after next), but there are too many design flaws with the Ngage for it to actually succeed. See it's high price (if you're going to exclusively use it for gaming) and the difficulty in changing games (you have to remove the BATTERY?)
Phantom: It's the Xbox, except a little more problematic. It doesn't have much in the way of decent developers (thus far) and it is bound exclusively to contact online for a compulsory fee. You can't go EXCLUSIVELY online with ytour games. Gamers like to own their own games too, and not every gamer has online access.
In summary: Yes, they provide great new ideas, but they are simply implemented poorly by new entries into the arena that have a high chance of failure. But only time will tell if their prophesies will be true in the long run (and I wager they will be)
I find this quote from the "barely coherent" interview:
If this case were just about 80 lines of code--first of all, there wouldn't be a lawsuit--people could sit down and try to fix it.
Compare with This article:
SCO, of Lindon, Utah, has found 80 lines of contributed code in the Linux kernel that it said directly infringe the System V copyright.
From a cursory look at the actual kernel code... Did anyone note the tag:
So why is IBM to blame for generic code that was put in the kernel by another company?
You're using IE aren't you? It's optimized for Mozilla (standards-compliant). The gray text is a hack to make it remotely similar to the Mozilla layout (thanks to the broken CSS fixed support in IE...)
To clarify for you:
PS2 worldwide figures: Asahi Shimbun (also contains Nintendo figures)
Xbox worldwide figures: MSFT 4th Quarter Earnings Report
Gamecube worldwide figures: Forbes from Reuters (at the bottom of the page). There are a few other pages quoting this figure as well.
PS2 US figures: NPDFunWorld
Xbox US figures: Unknown. Possibly the same as above?
Gamecube US figures: Guessed from estimate listed on AMO.NET Please note that this article does seem to be biased towards the Xbox, with multiple opinions to that effect. Nevertheless there is one good quote:
The real truth about these sales figures and future sales opportunities is that no single gaming system fan can be trusted with anything he or she has read regarding one system selling better, or performing better than the other.
Until there's a consistent third-party reporting on all three companies the various sales figures, while perhaps having some value taken on their own, become meaningless when compared to one another.
This is quite true, and I won't dispute it. But it's hard to get worldwide figures other than from the companies themselves. They're all going to inflate their own figures and deflate the others... (Why do you think she claimed Xbox was in second place worldwide? Certainly not because she trusted Nintendo's sales figures.)
The idea that Microsoft should be supportive of Linux on their machine is at best naive. Why should they offer more legitimacy [than they have to] to a competitor? Further, why should they support such a feature that would inevitably cause increased sales of a product that isn't a revenue generator while probably minimizing the attach rate of the software, on which they DO make money?
A very good point that I won't dispute. After all, this is Microsoft, and they really have no interest in Linux anyways (aside from killing it). It's just rather interesting that she evaded the whole question rather than giving it more straightly to a person who clearly knew more about what was going on than other questioners.
Ultimately Linux on the Xbox will be thanks to the people trying to get it on, with no help from MS (not even from those hackers who tried to "bargain" with MS to not release the font exploit on the 4th of July). Not through bargains or anything else. I knew that the question was loaded, and I understood the majority of the true reasons behind not letting it on when I asked the question.
Now it is true that I was rather childish with my titling... ^^;; But in any case, I merely state the truth as to what I heard and said, and you cannot claim that other fanboys are much better... All fanboys are the same, more or less ^^;; Just thank god I back up my claims with proof unlike others who are worse than me...
My honest opinion of the Xbox? Mediocre, mostly thanks to the lack of decent games aside from Sega and Halo, and the occasional decent game that isn't from either... (I think there are about 2 or 3 of these, but there aren't that many and I can't think of any names of the top of my head. I do have an Xbox though, so I do have experience with the system.)
Scratch N64 and add Dreamcast and then it's perfect.
I'm not EXACTLY pro-Linux-on-Xbox, but I find it an admirable goal, as an Xbox is a ratehr powerful machine for a cheap price, and by installing Linux, and buying 10 of them ($1750) you can have a nice cluster of PIII-750 boxes for the price of 1 high-end P4 3GHz machine.
The other thing is that I do think Linux on an Xbox is rather hilarious!
As for Linux on the Cube, it would be interesting, but there isn't nearly enough functionality to really accomplish too much (e.g. no integrated ethernet, no hard drive, no ability to use normal CDs). It'd be interesting, but I seriously doubt there are any good reasons for using it, unlike the PS2 and Xbox with hard drives and ethernet...
Worldwide figures are:
1. PS2: 51.2 million worldwide (As of March)
2. Gamecube: 9.55 million worldwide (As of March)
3. Xbox: 9.4 million worldwide (As of July)
US figures are:
1. PS2: 17.7 million (As of May)
2. Xbox: 6.2 million (As of May?)
3. Gamecube: About 4 million? (figures not known, but estimated to be 2 million under Xbox)
It is true that Nintendo is third place in the US... And for that they are suffering a bit. Don't get me wrong, I am a Nintendo fanboy (and to a lesser extent Square, and by extension, Sony) who hates Xbox with a passion, but Nintendo isn't going anywhere in the States, and it's got a tough time ahead of it. Best wait for the secret announcement later.
Elsewhere, Nintendo takes the cake, even worldwide it takes second-place with 9.55 million units (as of March) sold to 9.4 million Xboxes (as of July) (consider the fact that Xbox sales are biased towards the US, and you get a more interesting picture of the world sales. For links on the info, look at the link at the bottom of this post.). So Nintendo is hardly down and out.
And that brings me to my anecdote. Earlier this month, I had the privilege to sit in a two-hour open forum featuring four highly respected people in the gaming industry. One of these was Ms. Laura Fryer, Director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group.
Naturally, as a Slashdotter, I decided to ask Ms. Fryer the two hard hitting questions:
The initial response? "Them's fighting words!"
She went on to address my second question first, dismissing it as untrue. Of course, I found evidence to the contrary later on, but the fact is that she lied about it.
Then of course, there was the Linux part of the question, which she dodged, mentioning something about "security" before going on about "intellectual property" issues (nVidia and Intel have problems with Linux on the Xbox? This is the way she tried to paint it...)
In any case, though the public opinion coming out of it was quite likely biased for her ("She's in the industry! She knows what she's talking about!") The fact of the matter is she blatently lied and danced around my question. Needless to say, it's quite ego-boosting to realize that a 17-year-old kid had to make a member of MS management lie and dance around the answer...
As for more information on the incident, you can see my blog entry on the subject.
As several others have said: Roll your own version. That is what offering the source is for anyway.
In fact, just the other day (yesterday) I rolled a nightly Firebird install (optimized for Athlon) with SVG support. I've yet to test it though. (If you want it, just ask)
The other problem? They've yet to fix bug #111152...
Well... At least there are pretty, rich, and cynical Japanese girls who want to take over the world...
Even if their minions are rather incompetant...
...
HANDLEBARS.
Actually, IE implements gamma improperly too in some cases. I believe this is what causes colors that look fine in photoshop to NOT look analogous to HTML specified colors. It also loses its ability to view png files on occasions (as one of my friends can attest to) See http://libpng.org/pub/png/pngapbr.html#msie-win-un ix