I use Skype's peer-to-peer VoIP service, to talk to my girlfriend, (*Gasp* A slashdotter with a girlfriend! And now, seven angels will play seven trumpets...) and I have to say, if VoIP can reach a broad enough audience to hit critical mass, POTS services are headed the way of the dodo. I mean, why not? You pay for broadband service, and voila, no more long distance bill. All it really needs is a cheap, dedicated box, with a handset, a small keyboard for entering usernames to call, a little LCD screen, and a cheap Nic. If they could sell something like that, I know I'd buy it, and so would pretty much everyone on my friends list.
But, what do I know?
Hrm. The differences between what I said, and any given personal computer, are as follows:
1) Acts more like a hybrid of a Tivo, an XBox, and a DVD Recorder.
2) No "PC" Applications, like office suites, web browsers, etc.
3) No desk needed.
4) It's part of your living-room setup (IE, you hook it up to your TV and stereo, etc).
By definition, *all* game consoles are personal computers. The difference is that game consoles are targeted at gaming.
But hey, maybe you're right. I've been known to have a few moments of nonbrilliance when it comes to expressing opinions.
I'd be willing to give the Phantom a chance, regardless of what Gabe and Tycho of PA fame have to say. But I'm still operating under the assumption that it's vaporware. If it's ever actually released, I'll try it out.
Still, it's a great idea. A pre-configured, upgradable, HDTV-compatable game console? Great idea. Add in a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, or better yet, a DVD-RW/CD-RW, the ability to save TV shows to the hard drive (And make that drive big, fast, and upgradable) ala Tivo, or record live or already recorded video to DVD or (S)VCD (Hey, I watch a lot of anime fansubs, and burning them to an SVCD is cheaper than burning to DVD), the ability to network with PCs, and the best of the PC games out there, and you've got my money.
Maybe this kink of thing will become commonplace in curing blindness caused by injury. My mother would sure appreciate it, seeing (No pun intended) as how she's already lost the sight in one eye, and the other is slowly losing sight as well.
She's only 43, so she'll probably still be around if and when this becomes available to her.
Heck, I'll wager that code is also in BSD. In fact, I'll bet that's where both SCO/AT&T/Whoever got it from. Linux probably got it from BSD, too.
Of course, this is all conjecture, and I'm not a lawyer, though I lived with one for two years.
Do the folks making WPS Office make available the data needed to make other office suites, like OpenOffice.org and ABIWord, able to read and write in WPS Office's format? Or does WPS use some format already recognized by an alternative office package?
Wouldn't ignorant jackholes who read too many bad sci-fi novels like Bill Joy worry about these "Nanotubes" going haywire and turning the planet to gray goo? Or would Apple sue them into oblivion for using "Carbon" in a computer without their express permission?
I'm calling BS on that. Just because no one's thought to make a 3d Sierra-type adventure game, doesn't mean it's not possible. I can see something like a third-person game that used a point-click-menu-select interface, with cinematics, celebrity voice-overs, and one hell of a plot. You could combine free character movement like evercrack or any of the recent Zelda games, with Myst-like puzzles, and don't forget to throw in some action.
Oh yeah, and make sure it runs on linux.
It's fairly obvious to me what this is all about; Linux is stealing UNIX marketshare, so SCO is going to do everything it possibly can to discredit it's competitior. It's typical FUD. Unfortunately for SCO, they're too late. IBM has made too much money from linux to allow a little gnat of a company like SCO push it around. Even if this lawsuit isn't thrown right out of court, it'll be proven in short order that none of the code to the linux kernel comes from SCO's IP. ipso facto, IBM can countersue SCO into oblivion.
Two weeks ago, my friend Mike got his service terminated for allowing the geeks in the apartment next door to conncet to his WAP. I'm not about to have that sort of thing happen to me.
Now if only we could get this sort of thing in the US. I'd pay my next-door neighbor to let me connect through his WAP. Too bad AT&T doesn't allow that sort of thing.
According to the pictuires on the linux123 site, it has what look like microphone and speaker jacks on the card, too. So, no, you can make "Conference Call"-style calls with this card, using a mic and a good set of speakers.
It seems nice to be able to make phone calls from my linux boxen, but what I want to know is, when will I be able to _recieve_ calls? I couldn't find that answer in the FAQ. Also, is it possible to have, say, more than one of these cards, to get the VoIP equivalent of multiple phone lines, using a broadband connection?
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I use Skype's peer-to-peer VoIP service, to talk to my girlfriend, (*Gasp* A slashdotter with a girlfriend! And now, seven angels will play seven trumpets...) and I have to say, if VoIP can reach a broad enough audience to hit critical mass, POTS services are headed the way of the dodo. I mean, why not? You pay for broadband service, and voila, no more long distance bill. All it really needs is a cheap, dedicated box, with a handset, a small keyboard for entering usernames to call, a little LCD screen, and a cheap Nic. If they could sell something like that, I know I'd buy it, and so would pretty much everyone on my friends list. But, what do I know?
Hrm. The differences between what I said, and any given personal computer, are as follows: 1) Acts more like a hybrid of a Tivo, an XBox, and a DVD Recorder. 2) No "PC" Applications, like office suites, web browsers, etc. 3) No desk needed. 4) It's part of your living-room setup (IE, you hook it up to your TV and stereo, etc). By definition, *all* game consoles are personal computers. The difference is that game consoles are targeted at gaming. But hey, maybe you're right. I've been known to have a few moments of nonbrilliance when it comes to expressing opinions.
I'd be willing to give the Phantom a chance, regardless of what Gabe and Tycho of PA fame have to say. But I'm still operating under the assumption that it's vaporware. If it's ever actually released, I'll try it out. Still, it's a great idea. A pre-configured, upgradable, HDTV-compatable game console? Great idea. Add in a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, or better yet, a DVD-RW/CD-RW, the ability to save TV shows to the hard drive (And make that drive big, fast, and upgradable) ala Tivo, or record live or already recorded video to DVD or (S)VCD (Hey, I watch a lot of anime fansubs, and burning them to an SVCD is cheaper than burning to DVD), the ability to network with PCs, and the best of the PC games out there, and you've got my money.
Maybe this kink of thing will become commonplace in curing blindness caused by injury. My mother would sure appreciate it, seeing (No pun intended) as how she's already lost the sight in one eye, and the other is slowly losing sight as well. She's only 43, so she'll probably still be around if and when this becomes available to her.
Heck, I'll wager that code is also in BSD. In fact, I'll bet that's where both SCO/AT&T/Whoever got it from. Linux probably got it from BSD, too. Of course, this is all conjecture, and I'm not a lawyer, though I lived with one for two years.
Do the folks making WPS Office make available the data needed to make other office suites, like OpenOffice.org and ABIWord, able to read and write in WPS Office's format? Or does WPS use some format already recognized by an alternative office package?
Wouldn't ignorant jackholes who read too many bad sci-fi novels like Bill Joy worry about these "Nanotubes" going haywire and turning the planet to gray goo? Or would Apple sue them into oblivion for using "Carbon" in a computer without their express permission?
I'm calling BS on that. Just because no one's thought to make a 3d Sierra-type adventure game, doesn't mean it's not possible. I can see something like a third-person game that used a point-click-menu-select interface, with cinematics, celebrity voice-overs, and one hell of a plot. You could combine free character movement like evercrack or any of the recent Zelda games, with Myst-like puzzles, and don't forget to throw in some action. Oh yeah, and make sure it runs on linux.
It's fairly obvious to me what this is all about; Linux is stealing UNIX marketshare, so SCO is going to do everything it possibly can to discredit it's competitior. It's typical FUD. Unfortunately for SCO, they're too late. IBM has made too much money from linux to allow a little gnat of a company like SCO push it around. Even if this lawsuit isn't thrown right out of court, it'll be proven in short order that none of the code to the linux kernel comes from SCO's IP. ipso facto, IBM can countersue SCO into oblivion.
At least, that's how I see it.
Two weeks ago, my friend Mike got his service terminated for allowing the geeks in the apartment next door to conncet to his WAP. I'm not about to have that sort of thing happen to me.
Now if only we could get this sort of thing in the US. I'd pay my next-door neighbor to let me connect through his WAP. Too bad AT&T doesn't allow that sort of thing.
According to the pictuires on the linux123 site, it has what look like microphone and speaker jacks on the card, too. So, no, you can make "Conference Call"-style calls with this card, using a mic and a good set of speakers.
It seems nice to be able to make phone calls from my linux boxen, but what I want to know is, when will I be able to _recieve_ calls? I couldn't find that answer in the FAQ. Also, is it possible to have, say, more than one of these cards, to get the VoIP equivalent of multiple phone lines, using a broadband connection?
Patent reform is a great idea, but I'd be more interested in hearing how you plan to implement it.