That is so true! I feel really bad because now you exposed all my dirty secrets. I lobbied governement all those years to accept this program exactly yesterday, because i want to advertise on Slashdot, and win all those 1% donations. I will use this money for champagne, caviar and orbital trips. I'm also a member of Majestic 12, and work for New World Order, for full disclosure:-)
The Sugar was problem since day one of the project. Laptop design was very innovative for that time. The idea of cheap educational laptop was brilliant. How this happened, that the hardware was finished quickly, while the software was in deep alfa? They should stick to what was proven "good enough" software solution. By scattering their small resources on building the whole new user interfaces OLPC lost its chance to master the price and marketing.
Actually this is a perfect game for grown up. I started with ZX Spectrum platform shhoters, than was Doom and networked Quake, after that i found Warcraft, Starcraft and other RTS. Now Nethack is the only game i play. I'm interested in fancy graphics anymore, but deep gameplay is something i admire.
On ebay you can buy one ig good shape for 300-400USD. Even brand new x60, which is much more modern, is 1100USD on eBay. I bought my x60 in Japan, in regular computer store, brand new with warranty, for ca. 850USD. How you figured 2000USD pricetag?
Microsoft has been previewing this technology a while ago, and if i remember correctly they used pictures of Notre Dame cathedral downloaded from Flickr or similar service. But they do not want to deliver service for their users. I suspect, that Photosync is just a great tool for acquiring large amounts of very useful information for free. What are the terms of use for Photosync? Some kind of CC license? Just joking...
The problem is much deeper than you think. Copy protection is artificial method of changing digital work - which you can copy with no cost - into analog object you can sell in a pretty the same way you sell bottles of booze. People do complain about copy protection, because this simply doesn't fit digital realm, which people got used to. I do not think you will be able to change people behavior. Game developers will be forced to adapt. Kongregate is a good example how this may be achieved. They changed business model. They moved from selling bottles of booze into selling services, ads etc. For others lowering prices to the point, that its easier and cheaper to buy or download one from official website than burden with warez server, is a way to go. In my country developer CDProject mastered this tactic years ago, with local Baldur's Gate release which was almost the same price in official box and as pirated CD's on the street, but box included a themed mouse pad. This proved to be a selling point. For others associated merchandise may be more important than game sales by itself. Most successful developers will closely look at local prices: 3$ in US is not much money, 3$ in Brazil is quite a lot. Game industry will be fine. Businesses will adapt and will find viable business models in a world, where people copy everything. We do have such businesses already, so question is "when", not "how".
Waiting for second release is a good way to kick a company out of the market. I understand this desire for some businesses, but with Freerunner and OpenMoko you do want this second release to happen, right? So buy this release, and than buy the second when it's ready.
CF-18 or CF-19 laptop is 2,1kg. It's not that heavy and bulky. Used CF-18 sells for 1000-1500$ on eBay depending on spec, so it's also not that expensive. I'm a happy user of 7 years old CF-M34 toughbook, and i must say this is a wonderful solution (except worn out battery and low processing power, but this is understandable). My laptop took a lot of abuse and is running almost 24/24 for the last 3 years without problems. Those things have amazing build quality. Probably also XO could be an answer, because it's ruggedized (not "military spec ruggedized", but probably good enough) and cheap. You won't cry when you loose it.
Usually record labels send me CD-Rs. If there is a sticker with artists name i feel lucky. Book publishers send me pre-books in green or white covers, text before spell-check. Sometimes they do send me final editions, well, with big black stamps "Not for sale" on the cover and inside, in case i forgot about my duties. You really can't compare this to giving away laptops. I live in Poland, BTW, but don't think it's any different elswhere .
Automate sniping works for me. Snip.pl service allow you to snip auctions in the last seconds using your predefined values. There are tons of other options too ("do not bid this item if that item was won" etc.) However it is free (as in beer) only for first ten shots, than you have to pay. Do you know similar services, but free of charge?
> The idea is good though, imagine being able to sit at home, work or school working on the same documents at the same loctaion without having to worry about usb drives and moving datas.
The idea is dumb though, imagine being able to sit at home, work or school working on yuor laptop without having to worry about restricted network connections and passwords? Laptops outsell boxes, working on the go is not about moving data from one machine to another anymore.
What constitutes a project? People working on it? Or trademark? If entire team changes the name of the project for some legal reason - that doesn't constitute a fork. If entire team decides to break relationship with some smaller or bigger corporation - that also doesn't constitute a fork. Names and business relations are important, they help gaining marketshare. But word "fork" is not about marketshare, it's about different technical decisions. Here we got the very same, entire team of developers, so this doesn't apply. You say "structure and system": this is true in a world of proprietary software, where all the code stays with rigts holder. But this is free software.
It's not a bias. It's realism. Development of Mambo in Miro seems to be non-existent and this project hardly has any future... Look at this:
Due to the recent departure of the old dev team, the programming team at Miro will continue with the development of Mambo in the interim period. We are actively recruiting for members of the community who would like to contribute as developers and moderators, and all other areas of Mambo. Should you be interested, please email info@mamboserver.com."
It seems that you havn't been trying to install mainstream, desktop distro in non-expert mode for years. Mandriva installs automagically, Ubuntu (which was referred to me as nasty at installation) was only little bit uglier. No questions i don't understand were asked, everything was recognised correctly (even sound card, which was a major problem no longer than two years ago). Latest release of Gnome is a masterpice of usability comnparing to Win XP i use at work. I agree that there is more work to do. Setting up local network under Ubuntu was a real pain. However when it was done i no longer have to run command line interface and call my friend to ask stupid questions. Did i told you, that i don't know how to use command line except for running beagle daemon and some other apps?
Slashdot Mirror
That is so true! I feel really bad because now you exposed all my dirty secrets. I lobbied governement all those years to accept this program exactly yesterday, because i want to advertise on Slashdot, and win all those 1% donations. I will use this money for champagne, caviar and orbital trips. I'm also a member of Majestic 12, and work for New World Order, for full disclosure :-)
The Sugar was problem since day one of the project. Laptop design was very innovative for that time. The idea of cheap educational laptop was brilliant. How this happened, that the hardware was finished quickly, while the software was in deep alfa? They should stick to what was proven "good enough" software solution. By scattering their small resources on building the whole new user interfaces OLPC lost its chance to master the price and marketing.
I think it makes more sense, to keep it, and dropping only after we started negotiations to show willingness to cooperate and earn negotiation points.
Actually this is a perfect game for grown up. I started with ZX Spectrum platform shhoters, than was Doom and networked Quake, after that i found Warcraft, Starcraft and other RTS. Now Nethack is the only game i play. I'm interested in fancy graphics anymore, but deep gameplay is something i admire.
On ebay you can buy one ig good shape for 300-400USD. Even brand new x60, which is much more modern, is 1100USD on eBay. I bought my x60 in Japan, in regular computer store, brand new with warranty, for ca. 850USD. How you figured 2000USD pricetag?
Microsoft has been previewing this technology a while ago, and if i remember correctly they used pictures of Notre Dame cathedral downloaded from Flickr or similar service. But they do not want to deliver service for their users. I suspect, that Photosync is just a great tool for acquiring large amounts of very useful information for free. What are the terms of use for Photosync? Some kind of CC license? Just joking...
> anti-copy is not the disease, it is the symptom
The problem is much deeper than you think. Copy protection is artificial method of changing digital work - which you can copy with no cost - into analog object you can sell in a pretty the same way you sell bottles of booze. People do complain about copy protection, because this simply doesn't fit digital realm, which people got used to. I do not think you will be able to change people behavior. Game developers will be forced to adapt. Kongregate is a good example how this may be achieved. They changed business model. They moved from selling bottles of booze into selling services, ads etc. For others lowering prices to the point, that its easier and cheaper to buy or download one from official website than burden with warez server, is a way to go. In my country developer CDProject mastered this tactic years ago, with local Baldur's Gate release which was almost the same price in official box and as pirated CD's on the street, but box included a themed mouse pad. This proved to be a selling point. For others associated merchandise may be more important than game sales by itself. Most successful developers will closely look at local prices: 3$ in US is not much money, 3$ in Brazil is quite a lot.
Game industry will be fine. Businesses will adapt and will find viable business models in a world, where people copy everything. We do have such businesses already, so question is "when", not "how".
Waiting for second release is a good way to kick a company out of the market. I understand this desire for some businesses, but with Freerunner and OpenMoko you do want this second release to happen, right? So buy this release, and than buy the second when it's ready.
CF-18 or CF-19 laptop is 2,1kg. It's not that heavy and bulky. Used CF-18 sells for 1000-1500$ on eBay depending on spec, so it's also not that expensive.
I'm a happy user of 7 years old CF-M34 toughbook, and i must say this is a wonderful solution (except worn out battery and low processing power, but this is understandable). My laptop took a lot of abuse and is running almost 24/24 for the last 3 years without problems. Those things have amazing build quality.
Probably also XO could be an answer, because it's ruggedized (not "military spec ruggedized", but probably good enough) and cheap. You won't cry when you loose it.
Usually record labels send me CD-Rs. If there is a sticker with artists name i feel lucky. Book publishers send me pre-books in green or white covers, text before spell-check. Sometimes they do send me final editions, well, with big black stamps "Not for sale" on the cover and inside, in case i forgot about my duties. You really can't compare this to giving away laptops.
I live in Poland, BTW, but don't think it's any different elswhere .
Free = 17,40 Euro in the rest of Europe (5E device, 10E shipping, 2,40E tax)
Automate sniping works for me. Snip.pl service allow you to snip auctions in the last seconds using your predefined values. There are tons of other options too ("do not bid this item if that item was won" etc.) However it is free (as in beer) only for first ten shots, than you have to pay. Do you know similar services, but free of charge?
Don Parris is one-man christian think tank supporting free software philosophy. His book "Penguin in a pew" makes very interesting reading.
> offical text of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is published under a free license!
venganza.org/faq.htm says only that it can be reprinted:
"10. Can I reprint your letter? Yes, but please print the website address as well."
That in no way allows you to change and redistribute the work.
I mean - they do not suck, maybe because computer mice are even simpler than vacuum cleaners...
> The idea is good though, imagine being able to sit at home, work or school working on the same documents at the same loctaion without having to worry about usb drives and moving datas.
The idea is dumb though, imagine being able to sit at home, work or school working on yuor laptop without having to worry about restricted network connections and passwords?
Laptops outsell boxes, working on the go is not about moving data from one machine to another anymore.
Which one? Creative Commons License means nothing - or worse, it may mean that sharing is prohibited (CC Sampling License says that).
iAudio seems to be cheaper, check their product line: http://eng.iaudio.com/
What constitutes a project? People working on it? Or trademark? If entire team changes the name of the project for some legal reason - that doesn't constitute a fork. If entire team decides to break relationship with some smaller or bigger corporation - that also doesn't constitute a fork.
Names and business relations are important, they help gaining marketshare. But word "fork" is not about marketshare, it's about different technical decisions. Here we got the very same, entire team of developers, so this doesn't apply. You say "structure and system": this is true in a world of proprietary software, where all the code stays with rigts holder. But this is free software.
It's not a bias. It's realism. Development of Mambo in Miro seems to be non-existent and this project hardly has any future... Look at this:
Due to the recent departure of the old dev team, the programming team at Miro will continue with the development of Mambo in the interim period. We are actively recruiting for members of the community who would like to contribute as developers and moderators, and all other areas of Mambo. Should you be interested, please email info@mamboserver.com."
source: http://www.mamboserver.com/
OK, here are exact links for all 8 episodes. Note, that Jason Scott visited thepiratebay to bless all downloaders himself.
1. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343541
2. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343673
3. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343713
4. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343745
5. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343746
6. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343748
7. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343749
8. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3343750
http://thepiratebay.org/search.php?q=bbs&video=on
GOOFUS is so real, that he can't really exist. GALLANT is different. He is so grotesque, that he plays^H^H^H^H lives for sure.
It seems that you havn't been trying to install mainstream, desktop distro in non-expert mode for years. Mandriva installs automagically, Ubuntu (which was referred to me as nasty at installation) was only little bit uglier. No questions i don't understand were asked, everything was recognised correctly (even sound card, which was a major problem no longer than two years ago). Latest release of Gnome is a masterpice of usability comnparing to Win XP i use at work.
I agree that there is more work to do. Setting up local network under Ubuntu was a real pain. However when it was done i no longer have to run command line interface and call my friend to ask stupid questions. Did i told you, that i don't know how to use command line except for running beagle daemon and some other apps?
Who rated parent as "funny"? I'm really afraid it's "insightful"!