I thought the X-Box was based on the Nforce 1, not Nforce 2 Northbridge...
But probably not... in order to get 3d on Xbox Linux you would need to hack one of the Nvidia graphics drivers for Linux, and since they are still closed source that would be difficult.
Because, before this patch, under linux you could only run an Nvidia based AGP card... Nvidia (used to) only supply an NVAGP module that would not work with ATI products...
Essentially this meant that if you ran linux under nforce you were stuck to an all Nvidia lineup...
The only hiccup is that IMHO Nvidia has better drivers under Linux than ATI... true, Nvidia's are closed source ( a/. no-no) but they are better performance-wise than the open-source ATI DRI drivers...
No flames, but read some economics before your sociology...
If what you were to say is true... holding that say Jazz/Classical/Opera (traditional stalwarts of the Upper Classes) and the new Techno/Instrumental of the new "techno elite" will the main area of online sales,(Due to techno savvy and disposable income) and that their subsequent drop in CD sales will be their death knell, you are mistaken... for this reason...
If their sales were to drop in a 1 for 1 basis (1 CD lost for every 1 CD d/ld) then there is a compelling market to fill... Online sales should be much more profitable than brick and mortar... there are far less costs (labour, rent, etc) and as such the profit will be much higher... so to a Music exec all s/he sees is profit from these areas has INCREASED! (being that proportionatley more profit is sent to the music co's (i.e. no middlemen)...
Now consider that online sales might actually exceed a 1 for 1 basis... it is possible that some people would buy Mp3s that they already own on cassette/vinyl... the sales are increasing, and are more profitable.. who would walk away from that market (alright the RIAA is not *that* dumb)
Also, you need to factor in the relative vs. absolute expendatures... if someone in a lower income spends the same amount of $$$ as someone in a higher bracket, then the lower income is spending a *relatively* higher percentage of income, while they are both spending the same amount of money... the record co's don't care how much you spend relatively, they care absolutley, and will want you to buy expensive iPods and Stereo equipment to justify buying more music...
There may be some way to use their tactics against them... Find out when their annual meeting is...buy a few shares (1 is enough, but really you will want 100 to cut down on fees)... then go to the meeting and complain how you *do not think this strategy is a good idea*... get someone else to complain how they are wasting shareholder monnies on lawsuits and *not* on running the company...
Now... here is the real kicker... if you can convince enough of the Linux//. community to join the cause, all of you can SUE SCO(!)as a shareholder... IAASB (I AM A STOCK BROKER) and this has happened ALOT before... there is alot of precident... this happens with forestry companies (anti-logging lobby/greenpeace)... The best part is that they HAVE To LISTEN to your question, they may limit you to one, but they can't kick you out for asking!... and if ths turns ot to be a "pump-and-dump" then your questions might become the focal point of the investigation!
Well, I think thy might be beginning to listen... I just received a copy of Massive Attack 100th Window and right on the front is a sticker saying "Copy Controlled See reverse for details"...
So while I would never had bought this (gifts from industry reps are fine ) atleast they are giving fair warning...
_CMK
I would be quite hesitant to say that this is win/win... (not that they will) But if SCO did manage to win this case it would severely hamper Linux as a platform. Sure, the Kernel devs will re-write the offending code, but that does not mean that Linus/RedHat/Suse et al will be free from legal challenges...
More importantly were SCO to win would be the shadow over Linux that would be cast... sure, SCO would effectively kill their UNIX sales, but really they are peanuts... I think SCO is out to become a company that just exists to collect royalties.
Now, I know what you might be thinking, Linux is NOT Unix... I too know what the GNU in GNU/Linux stands for... but consider that the business types who write the cheques are not necessarily people who will read/. I once told my boss (the guy who buys all the IIS and NT machines in the office) that I ran OSX... he was suprised to hear that IBM had upgraded OS/2 to version 10!... If SCO wins, then a good chunk of Linux momentum will be lost...
_CMK
Re:but it's more humane!
on
Chicken Run
·
· Score: 4, Funny
You do realise that all chickens are female, right? So a chicken masterbater is more like the chicken fscker/ book mobile guy from southpark...
-CMK
Time to drool... The IBM T221 LCD Monitor is really the ultimate 'big screen' LCD...
A 22.2 inch wide LCD (not the biggest) but has a QUXGA-W or 3840x2400 resolution! The resolution is powered by 4(!) DVI interfaces... meaning 4 video cards... imagine 4 Quadro FX videocards powering this badboy...
there is an excellent review @ theinq... www.theinquirer.net/?article=8578
I think for what people are going to use this for, as a HTPC or upgraded WebTV then a HDTV would be fine... anything else and you would want a "regular PC" anyway... Who is going to write an essay/spreadsheet or do their taxes on their Television?
The market for these things (IMHO) is DVD/MP3 (Vorbis) playback...casual surfing and email... and maybe PVR. The scary thing is how similar this is getting to a description of the microsoft homestation PC... grrr ok it should run Redhat... and if it costs more than $200 it is sunk...
What I think this means is that the hardware is too expensive for what consumers are willing to pay... atleast upfront... I could easily see a market for one of these HTPCs rented from the cable co as part of an cable/internet/ VOD/PVR/ scheme... for $15/mo the price becomes worthwhile... esp if it has TIVO like functions.
_CMK
P.S. Time to run off to the patent office before Amazon reads this post.
The challenge, for these type pf products is still price. I think, is that for only a few hundred more you get a full featured PC... consider that for $800, you can get a Nforce2 board, Athlon XP 17-2000 processor, HD, 15" Monitor, and CDRW for only a *little* more...
People don't want to buy a crappy device, when for a little more then can get a significantly better machine. For only a few hundred more you can get a relatively full featured machine.
Now if you could get a machine that would surf the net, read email, and play DVDs and MP3s, for $150 then you have a winner. I _HOPE_ this is where the EPIA and Mini-Itx platform are going, although the price has a long way to go....The problem becomes as the price increases people want the machine to do more...
I find it interesting that a computer designer could draw so much attention. It is not often that people will wonder "what's next"... This guy manages to generate the kind of design that makes people dream of what could be next... more like a car company around autoshow time, and less like a traditional computer maker.
For me this raises two important questions. Firstly, why doesn't Apple push the design edge further? Maybe not production models, but "concept" designs. I remember like 10 years ago Macworld ran a story about prototype designs that were passed over... I (and I bet a good chunk of the computer community) would love to see some of the Apple Prototypes... Secondly, why are the traditional "beige box" makers so reluctant to follow? I mean Dell's big move was to black boxes identical to their beige cousins... HP tried a less bland grey... Only the enthousiast market has taken to "neato" cases (e.g. Alienware, et al.)...
what!? Rent-a-cop security is going to be CHEAPER?! than minimum wage first job ushers?
As for selling popcorn, I *know* that selling is the 2nd cheapest part... (besides making, kernels are dirt cheap)... think about it... a bag of popcorn costs in materials less than.10... so even if you pay better-than minimum wage, selling popcorn at $3-5 a bag, means what 1-3 bags an HOUR?! to cover costs... no the article is incorrect, selling is not expensive, the expense is in CLEANING... which they will have to do anyway.
(Cleaners usually make more than minimum wage, as nobody *wants* to do it).
You know what... there is a cinema in Toronto that offers *First Class* stlye services like on an airline... the tickets are 50% more, BUT you get a seat in a smaller theater, with Lay-Z-Boy type seats, free coat check (a nicety for Winter in Toronto), and a cinema Peon to fetch your popcorn and water (still have to pay though)...
So although it costs more, and I feel like a snob going, it actually becomes more reasonable everytime I see a movie at the *regular* (coach?) seating... Before the Matrix was 30 minutes of commercials, 5 (!?!) movie previews (1 good 4 crap), and waiting for the movie to start (before the lights dimm) there were slideshow ads on the screen...
Paying first class is certainly worthwhile, just to avoid all the advertisements!
There are NO Concessions at this cinema... you want popcorn, you bring your own...
This (IMHO) is a pretty dumb idea (concessions)... the Margins on popcorn and soft drinks are on the order of thousands of percent... one of the reasons easyCinema isn;t selling popcorn is the cost of cleaning it up, BUT if people bring their own, they still will have to.
This raises a few other questions... I am unsure how this venture will make any money, firstly concessions and adverts before the movie are huge profit centres for cinemas, cutting them out will certainly hurt business. Also for the *best* movies out there (Matrix, LOTR, et al.) the studio gets almost 100% of the box office revenue for the first few weeks, and then a declining percent as the movie continues... easyCinema would have to go 2-3 weeks with no revenue from the Matrix, just to show it, let alone cover the fixed costs (lighting, heat, staff)...
HOWEVER... they will most likely win their suit to get to play the movies, as long as they agree to pay what the *going rate* is... there is a company (galaxy cinemas) that does something similar... they pay the *going rate* for a film, then charge one price to get in... no senior discount, no matinee discout, no child prices... everyone pays the same price, BUT the kicker is that the price is 1/2 of the competing adult price at Loews...
Also, since a lack of staff seems to be a significant part of their (easyCinema) business strategy, what is stopping me and my pals from simply hopping the gate? If they are going to have an usher(?) or two checking tickets, how different is this from a traditional cinema? No cost savings there...
_CMK
Re:considered the father of Linux?
on
Today's SCO News
·
· Score: 1
Ahhh... but what if they don't know who is treading on their lawn? (to continue the metaphore)...
In another thread someone mentioned that they have a wireless basestation... so, anyone could be hijacking that IP to connect to KAZAA... if the RIAA keeps threatening to sue, they have to know who to sue... unless they can PROVE that I ALONE d/l those songs, then barratry may apply...
When was the last time you used one? (C3) The new processors are alot better than they used to be, they are reasonably fast, and most importantly cool (as in temp)...
Seriously, consider the design... Via Epia-M M6000 is TOTALLY fanless... when was the last time you could buy a computer that doesn't need a heatsink fan that has 600 mhz PIII power?
These boards have enough power to run XP (or Linux although without MPEG-2 Support, for now), decode MP3s and decode DVDs and most divx files. Seems like a cool choice to me. Seriously, what else do you need this to do? I agree the onboard graphics are gonna suck if you want to play games... but your not... you going to play DVDs and Mp3s if you buy this thing.
I read on mini-itx.com about this guy who attached a (12x4 line) LCD screen and an IR reciever... Winamp has plugins that allow for remote control... he has the track name scroll by, and he can control DVD and MP3 playback from a remote control... no keyboard needed... and if he needs to do anything intense, add a KB and use the TV out...
1) How different is this than the princton kiddies system? I don't know about you, but I don't want a 95 billion dollar bill arriving in the mail...
2) What if you local (cache?) contains a few links to kiddie porn? Not your fault, right? Software does it's own thing, you cannot control, BUT what will the FBI think? The FBI Scottland Yard, RCMP are currently heavily investigating Kiddie Porn cases (good work IMHO), but what if your the unlucky sap who getts stuck with a few sketchy URLs? Or Worse Yet, what if this GRUB keeps a cache of the website like google does? Then what?
3) What about material that is legal locally, but illegial somewhere else... eg. Nazi stuff in Germany, Falun Gong in China, etc... The last thing I want is to be refused to be given a travel visa cuz my PC has an illegial cache...
Good idea in principle, but with sketchy content on the web, I don't think I will be the one keeping track of it all. If there is a way to filter out the questionable stuff then maybe, but since the purpose is to be as inclusive as possible, it seems incompatible.
Slashdot Mirror
I thought the X-Box was based on the Nforce 1, not Nforce 2 Northbridge...
But probably not... in order to get 3d on Xbox Linux you would need to hack one of the Nvidia graphics drivers for Linux, and since they are still closed source that would be difficult.
_CMK
Because, before this patch, under linux you could only run an Nvidia based AGP card... Nvidia (used to) only supply an NVAGP module that would not work with ATI products...
/. no-no) but they are better performance-wise than the open-source ATI DRI drivers...
Essentially this meant that if you ran linux under nforce you were stuck to an all Nvidia lineup...
The only hiccup is that IMHO Nvidia has better drivers under Linux than ATI... true, Nvidia's are closed source ( a
_CMK
No flames, but read some economics before your sociology...
If what you were to say is true... holding that say Jazz/Classical/Opera (traditional stalwarts of the Upper Classes) and the new Techno/Instrumental of the new "techno elite" will the main area of online sales,(Due to techno savvy and disposable income) and that their subsequent drop in CD sales will be their death knell, you are mistaken... for this reason...
If their sales were to drop in a 1 for 1 basis (1 CD lost for every 1 CD d/ld) then there is a compelling market to fill... Online sales should be much more profitable than brick and mortar... there are far less costs (labour, rent, etc) and as such the profit will be much higher... so to a Music exec all s/he sees is profit from these areas has INCREASED! (being that proportionatley more profit is sent to the music co's (i.e. no middlemen)...
Now consider that online sales might actually exceed a 1 for 1 basis... it is possible that some people would buy Mp3s that they already own on cassette/vinyl... the sales are increasing, and are more profitable.. who would walk away from that market (alright the RIAA is not *that* dumb)
Also, you need to factor in the relative vs. absolute expendatures... if someone in a lower income spends the same amount of $$$ as someone in a higher bracket, then the lower income is spending a *relatively* higher percentage of income, while they are both spending the same amount of money... the record co's don't care how much you spend relatively, they care absolutley, and will want you to buy expensive iPods and Stereo equipment to justify buying more music...
_CMK
holy "..." batman
go to http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml and file a complaint... however it would help if you are a U.S. Taxpayer... -CMK
There may be some way to use their tactics against them... Find out when their annual meeting is...buy a few shares (1 is enough, but really you will want 100 to cut down on fees)... then go to the meeting and complain how you *do not think this strategy is a good idea*... get someone else to complain how they are wasting shareholder monnies on lawsuits and *not* on running the company...
/. community to join the cause, all of you can SUE SCO(!)as a shareholder...
Now... here is the real kicker... if you can convince enough of the Linux/
IAASB (I AM A STOCK BROKER) and this has happened ALOT before... there is alot of precident... this happens with forestry companies (anti-logging lobby/greenpeace)... The best part is that they HAVE To LISTEN to your question, they may limit you to one, but they can't kick you out for asking!... and if ths turns ot to be a "pump-and-dump" then your questions might become the focal point of the investigation!
_CMK
Well, I think thy might be beginning to listen... I just received a copy of Massive Attack 100th Window and right on the front is a sticker saying "Copy Controlled See reverse for details"... So while I would never had bought this (gifts from industry reps are fine ) atleast they are giving fair warning... _CMK
I would be quite hesitant to say that this is win/win... (not that they will) But if SCO did manage to win this case it would severely hamper Linux as a platform. Sure, the Kernel devs will re-write the offending code, but that does not mean that Linus/RedHat/Suse et al will be free from legal challenges...
/. I once told my boss (the guy who buys all the IIS and NT machines in the office) that I ran OSX... he was suprised to hear that IBM had upgraded OS/2 to version 10!... If SCO wins, then a good chunk of Linux momentum will be lost...
More importantly were SCO to win would be the shadow over Linux that would be cast... sure, SCO would effectively kill their UNIX sales, but really they are peanuts... I think SCO is out to become a company that just exists to collect royalties.
Now, I know what you might be thinking, Linux is NOT Unix... I too know what the GNU in GNU/Linux stands for... but consider that the business types who write the cheques are not necessarily people who will read
_CMK
You do realise that all chickens are female, right? So a chicken masterbater is more like the chicken fscker/ book mobile guy from southpark... -CMK
Time to drool... The IBM T221 LCD Monitor is really the ultimate 'big screen' LCD...
:)
A 22.2 inch wide LCD (not the biggest) but has a QUXGA-W or 3840x2400 resolution! The resolution is powered by 4(!) DVI interfaces... meaning 4 video cards... imagine 4 Quadro FX videocards powering this badboy...
there is an excellent review @ theinq... www.theinquirer.net/?article=8578
The only downside is the $8400 pricetag!
-CMK
I think for what people are going to use this for, as a HTPC or upgraded WebTV then a HDTV would be fine... anything else and you would want a "regular PC" anyway... Who is going to write an essay/spreadsheet or do their taxes on their Television?
The market for these things (IMHO) is DVD/MP3 (Vorbis) playback...casual surfing and email... and maybe PVR. The scary thing is how similar this is getting to a description of the microsoft homestation PC... grrr ok it should run Redhat... and if it costs more than $200 it is sunk...
What I think this means is that the hardware is too expensive for what consumers are willing to pay... atleast upfront... I could easily see a market for one of these HTPCs rented from the cable co as part of an cable/internet/ VOD/PVR/ scheme... for $15/mo the price becomes worthwhile... esp if it has TIVO like functions.
_CMK
P.S. Time to run off to the patent office before Amazon reads this post.
The challenge, for these type pf products is still price. I think, is that for only a few hundred more you get a full featured PC... consider that for $800, you can get a Nforce2 board, Athlon XP 17-2000 processor, HD, 15" Monitor, and CDRW for only a *little* more...
People don't want to buy a crappy device, when for a little more then can get a significantly better machine. For only a few hundred more you can get a relatively full featured machine.
Now if you could get a machine that would surf the net, read email, and play DVDs and MP3s, for $150 then you have a winner. I _HOPE_ this is where the EPIA and Mini-Itx platform are going, although the price has a long way to go....The problem becomes as the price increases people want the machine to do more...
_CMK
yeah the dirt nap...
_CMK
I find it interesting that a computer designer could draw so much attention. It is not often that people will wonder "what's next"... This guy manages to generate the kind of design that makes people dream of what could be next... more like a car company around autoshow time, and less like a traditional computer maker.
For me this raises two important questions. Firstly, why doesn't Apple push the design edge further? Maybe not production models, but "concept" designs. I remember like 10 years ago Macworld ran a story about prototype designs that were passed over... I (and I bet a good chunk of the computer community) would love to see some of the Apple Prototypes...
Secondly, why are the traditional "beige box" makers so reluctant to follow? I mean Dell's big move was to black boxes identical to their beige cousins... HP tried a less bland grey... Only the enthousiast market has taken to "neato" cases (e.g. Alienware, et al.)...
Prediction, PPC 970 Macs with neon lighting...
_CMK
what!? Rent-a-cop security is going to be CHEAPER?! than minimum wage first job ushers?
.10... so even if you pay better-than minimum wage, selling popcorn at $3-5 a bag, means what 1-3 bags an HOUR?! to cover costs... no the article is incorrect, selling is not expensive, the expense is in CLEANING... which they will have to do anyway.
As for selling popcorn, I *know* that selling is the 2nd cheapest part... (besides making, kernels are dirt cheap)... think about it... a bag of popcorn costs in materials less than
(Cleaners usually make more than minimum wage, as nobody *wants* to do it).
_CMK
You know what... there is a cinema in Toronto that offers *First Class* stlye services like on an airline... the tickets are 50% more, BUT you get a seat in a smaller theater, with Lay-Z-Boy type seats, free coat check (a nicety for Winter in Toronto), and a cinema Peon to fetch your popcorn and water (still have to pay though)...
So although it costs more, and I feel like a snob going, it actually becomes more reasonable everytime I see a movie at the *regular* (coach?) seating... Before the Matrix was 30 minutes of commercials, 5 (!?!) movie previews (1 good 4 crap), and waiting for the movie to start (before the lights dimm) there were slideshow ads on the screen...
Paying first class is certainly worthwhile, just to avoid all the advertisements!
_CMK
RTFA!!!
There are NO Concessions at this cinema... you want popcorn, you bring your own...
This (IMHO) is a pretty dumb idea (concessions)... the Margins on popcorn and soft drinks are on the order of thousands of percent... one of the reasons easyCinema isn;t selling popcorn is the cost of cleaning it up, BUT if people bring their own, they still will have to.
This raises a few other questions... I am unsure how this venture will make any money, firstly concessions and adverts before the movie are huge profit centres for cinemas, cutting them out will certainly hurt business. Also for the *best* movies out there (Matrix, LOTR, et al.) the studio gets almost 100% of the box office revenue for the first few weeks, and then a declining percent as the movie continues... easyCinema would have to go 2-3 weeks with no revenue from the Matrix, just to show it, let alone cover the fixed costs (lighting, heat, staff)...
HOWEVER... they will most likely win their suit to get to play the movies, as long as they agree to pay what the *going rate* is... there is a company (galaxy cinemas) that does something similar... they pay the *going rate* for a film, then charge one price to get in... no senior discount, no matinee discout, no child prices... everyone pays the same price, BUT the kicker is that the price is 1/2 of the competing adult price at Loews...
Also, since a lack of staff seems to be a significant part of their (easyCinema) business strategy, what is stopping me and my pals from simply hopping the gate? If they are going to have an usher(?) or two checking tickets, how different is this from a traditional cinema? No cost savings there...
_CMK
RMS... it is GNU/Linux... right? _CMK
Or just put the tower on top of the tree and run cable down the side...
_CMK
Ahhh... but what if they don't know who is treading on their lawn? (to continue the metaphore)...
In another thread someone mentioned that they have a wireless basestation... so, anyone could be hijacking that IP to connect to KAZAA... if the RIAA keeps threatening to sue, they have to know who to sue... unless they can PROVE that I ALONE d/l those songs, then barratry may apply...
that's my case anyway...
_CMK
Yeah, I agree best post ever! Hmmm I wonder why he posted as an AC????
:)
Wait, I know... I have 95 Billion reasons why...
honest question... not trolling, but...
Wouldn't the aspects of freenet that are anonymous also make it really easy for the RI/MPAA to salt files on the network...
P2P is not much use if all the files (or most) are crap...
_CMK
When was the last time you used one? (C3) The new processors are alot better than they used to be, they are reasonably fast, and most importantly cool (as in temp)...
Seriously, consider the design... Via Epia-M M6000 is TOTALLY fanless... when was the last time you could buy a computer that doesn't need a heatsink fan that has 600 mhz PIII power?
These boards have enough power to run XP (or Linux although without MPEG-2 Support, for now), decode MP3s and decode DVDs and most divx files. Seems like a cool choice to me.
Seriously, what else do you need this to do? I agree the onboard graphics are gonna suck if you want to play games... but your not... you going to play DVDs and Mp3s if you buy this thing.
I read on mini-itx.com about this guy who attached a (12x4 line) LCD screen and an IR reciever... Winamp has plugins that allow for remote control... he has the track name scroll by, and he can control DVD and MP3 playback from a remote control... no keyboard needed...
and if he needs to do anything intense, add a KB and use the TV out...
These things seem pretty well designed to me.
_CMK
Yeah... after your name is published in the New York Times as posessing child porn... remember the court of public opinion is a very scary place...
Richard Jewel anyone?
_CMK
text is still illegal...
And I don't want to point to any copywritten material... DMCA!
Alright, I have 3 major problems with this...
1) How different is this than the princton kiddies system? I don't know about you, but I don't want a 95 billion dollar bill arriving in the mail...
2) What if you local (cache?) contains a few links to kiddie porn? Not your fault, right? Software does it's own thing, you cannot control, BUT what will the FBI think? The FBI Scottland Yard, RCMP are currently heavily investigating Kiddie Porn cases (good work IMHO), but what if your the unlucky sap who getts stuck with a few sketchy URLs? Or Worse Yet, what if this GRUB keeps a cache of the website like google does? Then what?
3) What about material that is legal locally, but illegial somewhere else... eg. Nazi stuff in Germany, Falun Gong in China, etc... The last thing I want is to be refused to be given a travel visa cuz my PC has an illegial cache...
Good idea in principle, but with sketchy content on the web, I don't think I will be the one keeping track of it all. If there is a way to filter out the questionable stuff then maybe, but since the purpose is to be as inclusive as possible, it seems incompatible.
_CMK