Absolutely! And I'm sure someone will post a link to just that in a couple of days! Heck, why just stop at repair? I'll bet we'll soon be treated to some sweet PSP button mods!
How does that make sense, if you're paying more for your subscription to TiVO than for the rental on the Comcast box?
It would cost me about $10/month to rent the Comcast DVR, but eventually I'd have to give the DVR back to them if I changed cable provider or went to satellite, etc.. And I certainly couldn't hack or modify the box in any way. With the TiVo box, I own it regardless of who my cable provider is, and there are apparently a number of hacks and mods that should keep it useful to me for some time to come. Oh, the other catch with Comcast is that you have to subscribe to digital cable to get the DVR, so I would have the additional cost of digital cable on top of the DVR monthly fee which would be greater than the $13/month for the TiVo service. I'll probably get digital cable eventually, but right now standard is just fine.
Oh my bad timing! I just bought a TiVo yesterday! Actually, I've been concerned about whether or not TiVo would survive for a long time now, especially with the cable companies beginning to offer DVR services. But I weighed everything and decided on TiVo because I think that it is likely that the service will survive in one form or another. TiVo is a relatively strong brand which I'm sure someone will pick up, if the company fails. I also wanted to actually own my own DVR rather than renting it from Comcast. I thought about building my own using MythTV or something similar, but I don't have time for that and the TiVo service itself is what made the final sale for me. Besides, the various TiVo hacks that have developed will make the box useful to me for a long time.
Heh! It doesn't matter because knock-offs from China are going to get into the supply stream no matter what! So legal or not, cheap replacement cartridges are here to stay. In the end, if Lexmark and others want to win, they need to do it the old fashioned way with a quality product rather than product lock in. I actually gave up on Lexmark a couple of years ago because ink was too expensive and refilled or remanufactured cartridges were too unreliable. I ended up buying an HP color printer (a very loud 2500L) which for me at least is cheaper to operate than the Lexmark it replaced. Granted, I still need to deal with quality issues when I hunt for replacement cartridges, but at least I don't have to do it so often and at what I considered to be too high a cost.
Heck, that's fine with me since I still haven't finished FF X and X-II anyway. Yeah, I play slowly, but it saves me money, $19.95 USD for each! So I can wait!
Let's turn this thing on its head. EA looks like a ravenous beast right now, buying the competition or making deals to force competition out of certain genres, like American football. And let's not forget the now infamous working conditions! But maybe it's not at all evil afterall, for as big as EA has grown, there are bigger entities out there still. The current EA binge may be a defensive strategy intended to quickly grow the company to avoid being bought by one of the media behemouths like Viacom or Time Warner. Video games are a market that now rivals the movie industry in revenue, and perhaps more importantly, mind share. People are playing more games, sometimes, instead of watching tv or going to the movies. This makes companies like EA very attractive to the media giants. So growing like crazy is a matter of survival if EA wants to remain independent.
Well that's an easy question. Apple is right. Apple is always right! Now if it was Microsoft...
The funny thing is that if Apple prevails, then Microsoft will be right as well! If Apple wins, then you can bet that Microsoft and others will start leaning on other posters of leaked information. An Apple win could only have a chilling effect on arguably all of journalism. Even idle speculation that just happens to be right could be subject to legal action. Hmmm, to quote the Stooges, I'd better find myself a cheap lawyer!;-)
Hmm, no zealotry here! I'm a veteran of the OS/2 Windows wars, so I've had enough of that! I use whatever works to get the job done. My point is that in a constantly changing technological world, one ignores the tide at your own peril. Linux is not the second coming by any stretch, but it is an important part of the tech landscape now. Ignoring customers who may prefer Linux based solutions is just leaving money on the table. Large companies may be able to afford to ignore developing markets, but small companies can't.
Nobody said VxWorks was a bad product, but I still think that Wind River is making a good move to play the embedded Linux side of the street too, especially if their customers are asking them to do so. Looks like a win win to me, and Wind River too apparently.
I think Wind River is making a smart move. They could have easily dug their heels in and raged against the Linux tide. Instead they're going with the flow and building to take advantage of new opportunities and serving their customers' needs. Good show!
I still remember all of the flap when in reference to overseas outsourcing of tech jobs, she said that no one in the U.S. has a right to a job. Well, I guess she was right afterall!
Honestly, I'm not sure there is an ethical way to do human cloning research that everyone will agree upon. The main problem is that all scientific research entails failure upon failure. This is unavoidable and when coupled with human elements (or animals for that matter), the issue of suffering enters the picture. Now onto this overlay your favorite metaphysical viewpoint and you've got a real puzzle to work out.
These aren't always issues in the earliest stages of cloning research, but even here, if you start talking about working with human embryos for example, a firestorm begins. Even if said embryos were not created for the sole purpose of research, the ethical challenge is inescapable. Use your own vocabulary, but I'd say the karmic burden is very high for those who engage in such research. I'm not saying that this research should not be done, but I think that those who do it should act with the utmost respect and reverence for life which is probably what most in the life sciences do anyway.
Heh, when spyware makers really do begin to actively target Firefox users en masse, maybe a toast is in order. Pop open the bubbly! Why? Because spyware and spam are playing a numbers game. Of all the spam sent out and machines infested with spyware, only about 1 percent of those are going to make any money for the exploiter. But because we're talking about total numbers in the tens of millions at least, that 1 percent is good money.
So when Firefox becomes worth the effort, the folks in Redmond will really have to worry. In this game, nothing flags success like being the target of abuse! Tens of millions of Firefox users might just mean ten of millions of people considering something other than Windows. And that affects the bottom line for Microsoft. Hmmm, anyone heard of any OpenOffice exploits yet?
That's a little steeper than first anticipated, but mainly because of the bundled memory stick I would guess. Anyway, $250 for a portable game machine may be steep, but as others have mentioned, it does more than games. In particular, I'm considering it as a PDA replacement. If Sony follows through and releases a productivity pack of applications like a web browser, address book, etc., then $250 for a wi-fi enabled PDA that also plays music, movies, and (ahem) games, is not too bad. There was a story today reporting that PDA sales are down again. I think the PSP is a definite threat to that market, along with cell phones. Besides games, all I want is a decent calendar, address book, and a web browser that'll let me surf using my living room access point. The PSP might just do that cheaper than any of the PDAs out there right now.
Interesting. Does this mean that Quebec will become a preferred outsourcing destination for French companies? In any case, this just might get Quebec on Ubisoft's side in the fight against an EA takeover.
Geez, is nothing sacred? I suppose next we'll be reading about a psychochemical analysis of Mr. Gates based on stool residue he may have left behind in the public loo. Heh, I wish this were just a joke, but I've seem some nanotech that might just make that sort of thing feasible in the future...
Cases like this just remind us that there's no such thing as anonymity, at least not anymore. Unless you live alone and isolated in a cave somewhere (or a small cabin say, heh), someone, somewhere knows who you are. So how does one deal with this? Fake data? Use cash only? Nah, just act like a celebrity! Do everything as if everyone knows who you are, what you are doing, and who you are doing it with/to. In the age of computers and the internet, we are all stars on stage.
Technical merits, or lack thereof, aside, at least the MPAA is trying to get parents involved. Hopefully I won't get too old/lazy/senile to keep track of what my kids are doing on their computer. But sadly many parents don't know what their kids are watching on TV to say nothing of what's on their computers, otherwise spyware/malware wouldn't be so rampant.
Maybe the MPAA tool will serve as a gateway for hitherto uninvolved parents to get involved. Now for the cold reality, even if the tool worked well, it wouldn't be of much help to the MPAA. Why? Because I suspect the bulk of movie swapping is done on bandwidth rich college campuses, not on little Jane's DSL or cable hookup in the den. But maybe the MPAA knows that already and is just trying to educate the next generation of computer users and their parents.
Call me jaded, but I just don't believe the Revolution is going to have anything that's going to knock our socks off. That said, here's something that might make things interesting.
How about a MMO game that makes use of GPS enabled DS units interacting via hot spots with online Revolution home players. This would be a game that makes use of the whole Earth as its play space. Perhaps Revolution units themselves would be the hot spots. If the Revolutions have hard drives, each one could store some of the game data describing its locale in the game world.
I think there's a Gizmondo game coming up that moves in this direction. But if Revolution consoles are themselves access nodes to the game for mobile units, that would be different. Games that break down the barriers between the game world and the real world would be truly revolutionary, or subversive, depending on your point of view.
This may help some egos over at Take Two, but seriously, this is just EA leaving some scraps on the table to give the illusion of a competitive marketplace. Is there any real reason to believe EA couldn't dominate video game baseball too? Once you dominate most of a sector, like video game sports, leave a few areas (less profitable ones) available for competitors so that no one can say you have a true monopoly. So this doesn't hurt EA and Take Two at least has a little good news for their shareholders. The only losers may turn out to be the fans who in a worst case scenario will get an inferior product at a higher cost. Oh well, play ball!
Well, gotta agree on this one. While I don't believe that playing violent video games breeds violent people any more than any other popular media, at least there isn't any solid proof of that yet, there was no way a high school based Halo 2 tournament was going to fly. Even if all of the participants happened to be 17+ and had parental permission and endorsement, our schools have become hypersensitized , especially since the Columbine tragedy. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. If the students still want to raise money via a fun event, just choose something more acceptable or take it to a private location.
It sounds like his ex-gf did the virtual equivalent of smashing his windshield in with a baseball bat. This is just another reminder to the kiddies that passwords should not be shared before marriage, and I'm none too sure about afterwards either! But you all know what this is leading up to...some serious makeup sex! Oh wait, this is/.. Nevermind...
Hmmm. If stuff like this starts happening enough, the average user will just stop using the net. Just like people won't go wandering into a bad or dangerous neighborhood no matter how good the restaurants may be, many people will simply stop using the net if the scams, worms, and viruses continue to mount. This has significant economic consequences and consequences for individual freedoms as the government attempts to combat the problems.
Admittedly, the net is used for a lot of things that people may not be directly aware of. But as far as Joe user in front of a PC goes, if the craziness continues to escalate, he'll stop using the PC on the internet and go back to watching TV.
Hmm, I guess by EA's own marketing (If it's in the game, it's in the game.) then there should be a strike/lockout option complete with picket sign and scab studio. Yes! More realism! But like damage modelling in most racing games, I'll bet the respective leagues and players unions would never allow _that_ much realism.
Bills like this are just more proof that the technologically adept (ie geeks and nerds) are a despised class that arguably need protection from excesses of the law and bigotry. Politicians feel perfectly at ease trampling on our rights while pocketing money from RIAA and others whose only interest is in profit, because people don't like geeks and nerds. Now don't get me wrong, profit is good, but not at the expense of people's rights. If things play out at their worse, we'll soon have prisons full of murders, rapists, and programmers. Hmmm, with all of those programmers in prison, I suppose we'll finally have coding that can compete with the cost savings of outsourcing to India.
Seriously, unless technologists band together, we'll continue to see attacks on not only our livelihood, but our passion! Geeks of the the world must unite! We can't let the bullies keep taking our lunch money.
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Absolutely! And I'm sure someone will post a link to just that in a couple of days! Heck, why just stop at repair? I'll bet we'll soon be treated to some sweet PSP button mods!
It would cost me about $10/month to rent the Comcast DVR, but eventually I'd have to give the DVR back to them if I changed cable provider or went to satellite, etc.. And I certainly couldn't hack or modify the box in any way. With the TiVo box, I own it regardless of who my cable provider is, and there are apparently a number of hacks and mods that should keep it useful to me for some time to come. Oh, the other catch with Comcast is that you have to subscribe to digital cable to get the DVR, so I would have the additional cost of digital cable on top of the DVR monthly fee which would be greater than the $13/month for the TiVo service. I'll probably get digital cable eventually, but right now standard is just fine.
Oh my bad timing! I just bought a TiVo yesterday! Actually, I've been concerned about whether or not TiVo would survive for a long time now, especially with the cable companies beginning to offer DVR services. But I weighed everything and decided on TiVo because I think that it is likely that the service will survive in one form or another. TiVo is a relatively strong brand which I'm sure someone will pick up, if the company fails. I also wanted to actually own my own DVR rather than renting it from Comcast. I thought about building my own using MythTV or something similar, but I don't have time for that and the TiVo service itself is what made the final sale for me. Besides, the various TiVo hacks that have developed will make the box useful to me for a long time.
Heh! It doesn't matter because knock-offs from China are going to get into the supply stream no matter what! So legal or not, cheap replacement cartridges are here to stay. In the end, if Lexmark and others want to win, they need to do it the old fashioned way with a quality product rather than product lock in. I actually gave up on Lexmark a couple of years ago because ink was too expensive and refilled or remanufactured cartridges were too unreliable. I ended up buying an HP color printer (a very loud 2500L) which for me at least is cheaper to operate than the Lexmark it replaced. Granted, I still need to deal with quality issues when I hunt for replacement cartridges, but at least I don't have to do it so often and at what I considered to be too high a cost.
Heck, that's fine with me since I still haven't finished FF X and X-II anyway. Yeah, I play slowly, but it saves me money, $19.95 USD for each! So I can wait!
Let's turn this thing on its head. EA looks like a ravenous beast right now, buying the competition or making deals to force competition out of certain genres, like American football. And let's not forget the now infamous working conditions! But maybe it's not at all evil afterall, for as big as EA has grown, there are bigger entities out there still. The current EA binge may be a defensive strategy intended to quickly grow the company to avoid being bought by one of the media behemouths like Viacom or Time Warner. Video games are a market that now rivals the movie industry in revenue, and perhaps more importantly, mind share. People are playing more games, sometimes, instead of watching tv or going to the movies. This makes companies like EA very attractive to the media giants. So growing like crazy is a matter of survival if EA wants to remain independent.
Well that's an easy question. Apple is right. Apple is always right! Now if it was Microsoft...
The funny thing is that if Apple prevails, then Microsoft will be right as well! If Apple wins, then you can bet that Microsoft and others will start leaning on other posters of leaked information. An Apple win could only have a chilling effect on arguably all of journalism. Even idle speculation that just happens to be right could be subject to legal action. Hmmm, to quote the Stooges, I'd better find myself a cheap lawyer! ;-)
Hmm, no zealotry here! I'm a veteran of the OS/2 Windows wars, so I've had enough of that! I use whatever works to get the job done. My point is that in a constantly changing technological world, one ignores the tide at your own peril. Linux is not the second coming by any stretch, but it is an important part of the tech landscape now. Ignoring customers who may prefer Linux based solutions is just leaving money on the table. Large companies may be able to afford to ignore developing markets, but small companies can't.
Nobody said VxWorks was a bad product, but I still think that Wind River is making a good move to play the embedded Linux side of the street too, especially if their customers are asking them to do so. Looks like a win win to me, and Wind River too apparently.
I think Wind River is making a smart move. They could have easily dug their heels in and raged against the Linux tide. Instead they're going with the flow and building to take advantage of new opportunities and serving their customers' needs. Good show!
I still remember all of the flap when in reference to overseas outsourcing of tech jobs, she said that no one in the U.S. has a right to a job. Well, I guess she was right afterall!
Honestly, I'm not sure there is an ethical way to do human cloning research that everyone will agree upon. The main problem is that all scientific research entails failure upon failure. This is unavoidable and when coupled with human elements (or animals for that matter), the issue of suffering enters the picture. Now onto this overlay your favorite metaphysical viewpoint and you've got a real puzzle to work out.
These aren't always issues in the earliest stages of cloning research, but even here, if you start talking about working with human embryos for example, a firestorm begins. Even if said embryos were not created for the sole purpose of research, the ethical challenge is inescapable. Use your own vocabulary, but I'd say the karmic burden is very high for those who engage in such research. I'm not saying that this research should not be done, but I think that those who do it should act with the utmost respect and reverence for life which is probably what most in the life sciences do anyway.
Heh, when spyware makers really do begin to actively target Firefox users en masse, maybe a toast is in order. Pop open the bubbly! Why? Because spyware and spam are playing a numbers game. Of all the spam sent out and machines infested with spyware, only about 1 percent of those are going to make any money for the exploiter. But because we're talking about total numbers in the tens of millions at least, that 1 percent is good money.
So when Firefox becomes worth the effort, the folks in Redmond will really have to worry. In this game, nothing flags success like being the target of abuse! Tens of millions of Firefox users might just mean ten of millions of people considering something other than Windows. And that affects the bottom line for Microsoft. Hmmm, anyone heard of any OpenOffice exploits yet?
If you're more mathematically inclined you can think of it as Xbox 2pi! And since pi is a transcendental number, you've got your tag line ready made.
"Xbox 2pi, playing in another dimension!"
Or something like that...Yeah, it's a reach.
That's a little steeper than first anticipated, but mainly because of the bundled memory stick I would guess. Anyway, $250 for a portable game machine may be steep, but as others have mentioned, it does more than games. In particular, I'm considering it as a PDA replacement. If Sony follows through and releases a productivity pack of applications like a web browser, address book, etc., then $250 for a wi-fi enabled PDA that also plays music, movies, and (ahem) games, is not too bad. There was a story today reporting that PDA sales are down again. I think the PSP is a definite threat to that market, along with cell phones. Besides games, all I want is a decent calendar, address book, and a web browser that'll let me surf using my living room access point. The PSP might just do that cheaper than any of the PDAs out there right now.
Interesting. Does this mean that Quebec will become a preferred outsourcing destination for French companies? In any case, this just might get Quebec on Ubisoft's side in the fight against an EA takeover.
Geez, is nothing sacred? I suppose next we'll be reading about a psychochemical analysis of Mr. Gates based on stool residue he may have left behind in the public loo. Heh, I wish this were just a joke, but I've seem some nanotech that might just make that sort of thing feasible in the future...
Cases like this just remind us that there's no such thing as anonymity, at least not anymore. Unless you live alone and isolated in a cave somewhere (or a small cabin say, heh), someone, somewhere knows who you are. So how does one deal with this? Fake data? Use cash only? Nah, just act like a celebrity! Do everything as if everyone knows who you are, what you are doing, and who you are doing it with/to. In the age of computers and the internet, we are all stars on stage.
Technical merits, or lack thereof, aside, at least the MPAA is trying to get parents involved. Hopefully I won't get too old/lazy/senile to keep track of what my kids are doing on their computer. But sadly many parents don't know what their kids are watching on TV to say nothing of what's on their computers, otherwise spyware/malware wouldn't be so rampant.
Maybe the MPAA tool will serve as a gateway for hitherto uninvolved parents to get involved. Now for the cold reality, even if the tool worked well, it wouldn't be of much help to the MPAA. Why? Because I suspect the bulk of movie swapping is done on bandwidth rich college campuses, not on little Jane's DSL or cable hookup in the den. But maybe the MPAA knows that already and is just trying to educate the next generation of computer users and their parents.
Call me jaded, but I just don't believe the Revolution is going to have anything that's going to knock our socks off. That said, here's something that might make things interesting.
How about a MMO game that makes use of GPS enabled DS units interacting via hot spots with online Revolution home players. This would be a game that makes use of the whole Earth as its play space. Perhaps Revolution units themselves would be the hot spots. If the Revolutions have hard drives, each one could store some of the game data describing its locale in the game world.
I think there's a Gizmondo game coming up that moves in this direction. But if Revolution consoles are themselves access nodes to the game for mobile units, that would be different. Games that break down the barriers between the game world and the real world would be truly revolutionary, or subversive, depending on your point of view.
This may help some egos over at Take Two, but seriously, this is just EA leaving some scraps on the table to give the illusion of a competitive marketplace. Is there any real reason to believe EA couldn't dominate video game baseball too? Once you dominate most of a sector, like video game sports, leave a few areas (less profitable ones) available for competitors so that no one can say you have a true monopoly. So this doesn't hurt EA and Take Two at least has a little good news for their shareholders. The only losers may turn out to be the fans who in a worst case scenario will get an inferior product at a higher cost. Oh well, play ball!
Well, gotta agree on this one. While I don't believe that playing violent video games breeds violent people any more than any other popular media, at least there isn't any solid proof of that yet, there was no way a high school based Halo 2 tournament was going to fly. Even if all of the participants happened to be 17+ and had parental permission and endorsement, our schools have become hypersensitized , especially since the Columbine tragedy. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. If the students still want to raise money via a fun event, just choose something more acceptable or take it to a private location.
It sounds like his ex-gf did the virtual equivalent of smashing his windshield in with a baseball bat. This is just another reminder to the kiddies that passwords should not be shared before marriage, and I'm none too sure about afterwards either! But you all know what this is leading up to...some serious makeup sex! Oh wait, this is /.. Nevermind...
Hmmm. If stuff like this starts happening enough, the average user will just stop using the net. Just like people won't go wandering into a bad or dangerous neighborhood no matter how good the restaurants may be, many people will simply stop using the net if the scams, worms, and viruses continue to mount. This has significant economic consequences and consequences for individual freedoms as the government attempts to combat the problems.
Admittedly, the net is used for a lot of things that people may not be directly aware of. But as far as Joe user in front of a PC goes, if the craziness continues to escalate, he'll stop using the PC on the internet and go back to watching TV.
Hmm, I guess by EA's own marketing (If it's in the game, it's in the game.) then there should be a strike/lockout option complete with picket sign and scab studio. Yes! More realism! But like damage modelling in most racing games, I'll bet the respective leagues and players unions would never allow _that_ much realism.
Bills like this are just more proof that the technologically adept (ie geeks and nerds) are a despised class that arguably need protection from excesses of the law and bigotry. Politicians feel perfectly at ease trampling on our rights while pocketing money from RIAA and others whose only interest is in profit, because people don't like geeks and nerds. Now don't get me wrong, profit is good, but not at the expense of people's rights. If things play out at their worse, we'll soon have prisons full of murders, rapists, and programmers. Hmmm, with all of those programmers in prison, I suppose we'll finally have coding that can compete with the cost savings of outsourcing to India.
Seriously, unless technologists band together, we'll continue to see attacks on not only our livelihood, but our passion! Geeks of the the world must unite! We can't let the bullies keep taking our lunch money.