It might be fun to have a "what has this IP adress searched for?" feature to sift thru the google logs. Then again, it might uncover some scary stuff.
If you keep your own webserver logs and the users don't hide their referrer strings (99% of them don't) then you could do that on your own website from the numerous search engines.
I could only imagine what data large sites can come up with from the information passed during searches. Hell, it absolutely amazes me on my little tiny site and I only get about 100k hits a month.
I'd like to ask that we allow for a non-CSS version to exist. I, and I believe Taco himself, read Slashdot from a T-mobile sidekick. Prior to the CSS enabled Slashdot I was able to read Slashdot normally with my standard settings.
Now, with CSS enabled, content has shrunk and sometimes sits in an area only a couple characters wide.
Yeah, I can switch to "Light" which is fine if I'm just using the mobile device but I don't. I don't want to have to switch back and forth between the two. Enable non-CSS Slashdot!
I got to experience some altitude sickness at around 10k feet when I went to Maui on my honeymoon. I wasn't a pussy like you in your sealed train! I was out in the open riding a bike down the volcano!
Going from sea level to 10k feet in such a short time sucked *and* I paid a shitload to do it too!
I have seen the complaints and it always seems that you only hear about those that do complain.
I have no complaints other than battery life when watching movies. I only get about 4.5 hours of movie time. I do, however, get about 15 hours of MP3 playback.
I haven't had any problems with reliability and use it all the time.
I have recorded numerous DVDs, TV shows from Tivo, and used downloaded movies (re-encoded with Dr. Divx) on it and haven't seen any "artifacts". Sync issues DO occur if you don't reencode the video though.
I just get around it by recording straight to the device or re-encoding w/Dr. Divx (although I don't do much re-encoding these days as I don't download videos anymore).
Trying to wedge PVR functionality into the portable device is overkill. It's a player. Let the computer do the work... that's why it's there.
Sorry but I love the fact that my portable video player also acts as a PVR. I don't have to re-encode video to play on it and look correct, I don't have to have a Tivo and use "Record to VCR" or Tivo2Go if I don't want to, and I don't have to pay an additional $100+ on a decent PVR card to record content that I'm just putting on a portable device.
It's apparent to me that plenty of people are speculating on how moving content to portable devices will work and how well it will work. I'm not speculating as I do it every day with my Archos AV400.
...the iTunes Video Store being played on Macs with Front Row. Not to mention commuters watching their favorite shows on the train in the mornings and evenings.
On Thursdays alone we record 7 different TV shows on our DirecTivo. *IF* I was paying Tivo ($13/mo) for their service (I only pay Tivo $5/mo extra -- it's free for the year though) I would have made back the cost that iTMS required in one day.
Let's look at a week's worth of shows. 37 shows a week are recorded (on your average Fall season week). That's $74 at iTMS. Still $13/mo with Tivo or $5/mo with DirecTivo. Hmm, yeah, really looks like iTMS is going to win that war...
Not only that but a DirecTivo is $99 (free if you're angry) and includes two tuners. I got my original standalone Tivo for $49.99 and it was free after rebates. A Video iPod is how much? I have to have an Internet connection for iTMS and not so with Tivo or DirecTivo.
To answer your "point" about watching the episodes on mass transit... I have an 80GB Archos media player. I "Record to VCR" my shows and it records them on the Archos. Problem solved.
iTMS will make it easier to get content but it certainly isn't a "Tivo Killer". Before you spout off your pro-Apple crap I think that you should at least first research what your spouting about. Then you don't look like an ass.
I would probably catorgorize myself as a casual gamer- I play once a week- often not at all- but I'd say I buy 5-6 games a year. I'd like to play more- but don't have time. Is this just me or are others in this same category?
If you play once a week or less then, yes, I would say that you're a casual gamer. But that's not all... You purchase 5-6 games a year. That makes you more than casual in my book.
While I sometimes play more than once a week or less I have purchased about 5 or 6 games in the last 5+ years. To me, that makes me equally as casual as you.
Boys are still the big buyers and mom sometimes likes Tertis-like games. Making more Tertis-like games may bring in more money, but I don't think it'll be as big as they think. (But I've been wrong before, and as an indie type my self, I'd love to be!)
I enjoy puzzle games like Tetris and specifically "Bejeweled" (or any of the 1000 other names it goes by depending on variation) but that's because they are "free". I can go to Yahoo Games and fire up a game of Gin, Literati, Bejeweled, etc, all for nothing. I don't need a game to sit on my HD taking up space, I don't need the latest and greatest system to run it, I don't need to pay an arm and a leg, and I don't get bored with the game after I "finish" it.
My problem with most modern games is that the long term playability just isn't there. Yeah, most FPS shooters with online play break that mold but there are plenty of others that don't. You need to invest too much in hardware, software, and time and then you're bored with it in a month/year.
I have a Ms. Pacman machine (currently in disrepair unfortunately). It's been out since 1982 and it's just as much fun today as it was then.
I'll take a puzzle game over some multi-million dollar interactive movie anyday.
I don't think you quite understand that aside from a few nutbars, no one is worried about the Earth getting sad. It's the part where we all die a lot earlier that upsets people.
So what? We'll all die. I'm not worried and neither should anyone else be.
Despite doubts about whether or not human activity is contributing to gloabl warming, we still have the responsibility to minimize our impact.
Why? I have said it before and I will say it again -- IT DOES NOT MATTER! The Earth will fix itself. The human race is not important in the grand scheme of things as far as the Earth is concerned.
Just because *we* think that we are important doesn't mean we are.
If it isn't *us* causing the problems by extended life expectancies, eliminating mass disease, over fucking, etc then it's the Earth creating weather, eruptions, whatever to wipe us out.
Face it, it doesn't matter. Get over yourself. The human race just isn't as important as it thinks it is.
A journalist is someone who makes a bona-fide attempt to report news reasonably seen as in the public interest. For example, reporting or commentary on politics, religion, Tara Reid's breasts is all news. Reposting an article from the Times is not.
So, as long as the author is writing something of their own and not reposting someone else's work then they are a journalist? Does that open AP wires, written up in other media, not journalistic media?
So, my website where I write about my experiences elsewhere through creative writing and sometimes "journalism" does fall under the limited guidelines you propose?
Sorry, but there are just too many different kinds of "blogs" for you to lump them under the umbrella of reposting articles from The Times.
Actually, I think it takes longer plus then I have to re-encode to make it display perfectly on the device. It's just better to record realtime to the device IMHO.
Use an Archos. I have an AV400 (80GB) and routinely transfer Tivo recorded shows from my DirecTivo to the device via the "Record to VCR" option.
We take the Archos with us on plane rides, car trips, etc. My wife holds it and I use an FM transmitter to play the sound in the car. Generally we bring along shows that I don't need to *watch* to get the gist of while I drive.
Personally, I'd favor a law that enforced the existing video game ratings, instead of the vague "You could make a bland football game illegal with this" law California passed.
Personally, if I were a CA resident I'd favor a law that fixed any one of the 1000s of other far more important issues that they have there. Instead, they are wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars on something that should be taken care of by the parents of the video game players.
If they parents of any particular video game purchaser don't care then why should the government?
SMALLER GOVERNMENT not bigger. Repeat... SMALLER, not bigger! Good.
Many people who are reluctant to undergo this examination are left untreated and can continue to suffer for many years.
So, if people are reluctant to undergo examination by a doctor what makes the researches believe that they will appreciate being stuck w/a needle and then have to sit around and wait out their results?
I'm sure folks in my situation are in a minority, but it's frustrating sometimes to know that something neat like this it out of your grasp.
There are plenty of folks in your situation and they are all quite vocal about it. I tend to agree with you but there are always some slimmed down versions of phones which are available for people in your situation. I have two friends that cannot bring cameras into work. One bought a lower end model phone for $49 and uses that. The other just doesn't bring his phone into work.
As for the rest of the people buying phones out there... 90% of those people have no use for a camera phone and rarely use it at all. If they do use it, it's for crappy photos of their friends while drinking. Yeah, we've all heard a couple of stories where teenaged girls took photos of attacker's license plates, etc.
Some people, like me, enjoy having a phone on their Internet connected phone and use it more than the rest of the public. I have a mobile gallery where I dump all my photos from my phone. Some of those end up on my website in stories about restaurants or some dumb bullshit my friends and my wife did.
So, while they aren't great for everyone and aren't used by most, they are still a useful addition IMHO.
I can see it now, an artist who's talents are probably at the higher end of the spectrum...but this is because he takes a bit more time on his work, thus giving managers the excuse to fire him at whim because he's not "performing up to standards."
Then he'll find a job elsewhere, have better working conditions, probably better pay, and in all liklihood a better self-worth which will cross into his personal life as well.
If EA is really going to bounce a "higher end" talent because they aren't meeting draconian quotas, then they don't give a shit about game quality or employee quality and aren't worth working for anyway.
Get a reliable network connection, just as you would do for your other utilities.
There are few areas that people have permanent residences in without electricity. I can't say that's true for Internet connections.
How about, instead of assuming that everyone out in the world is like you (and every other geek on their high horse), you step down and realize that locally stored programs are a benefit to everyone in the short and long term (like when they start charging you a monthly subscription).
The point: I'd bet that that only a dozen or so bloggers make a decent income, thousands make a little money and millions make nothing from their blogs.
Personally, I shy away from any "blogger" that is doing it professionally. The power of "bloggers" stems from their brtual honesty and their lack of pays offs (in my mind at least). The second someone is paid to do their hobby a couple of negative things happen:
1. They feel inclined to report on something to benefit those that are paying them for fear of losing the stream of money.
2. They get bored w/the job because they are now getting paid for what was once their hobby that they loved.
3. They overdo it to make more revenue.
I write about stupid shit and post it to my website for myself and my friends. Other people do happen along and read it from time to time and I hope that they see it's just for my own personal enjoyment. There's nothing behind it except what I felt at the time. I have no financially motivated agendas to rate one opinion over another.
When you start doing that, your reputation suffers.
Does anyone actually have a use for all these Windows "Tablet PCs"? I mean, the idea seems nice, but I haven't seen any real-world uses for them that laptops don't already meet.
A friend uses an older/used tablet PC in his Explorer for navigation. Using an external GPS unit and Microsoft Streets and Trips he's able to show all the geocaches and the route on a large and easily manipulated screen.
A laptop is fine for this, and I have seen it setup in a Caravan, but interacting via the keyboard/touchpad mouse is a lot more difficult than a simple tap on the screen.
Slashdot Mirror
Even though most of my referer traffic (about 75%) is from slashdot my numbers haven't changed all that much:
1 25510 53.43% MSIE 6.0
2 16082 33.68% Mozilla/5.0
Can you turn off CSS in your browser? That effectively makes the site "light".
No.
It might be fun to have a "what has this IP adress searched for?" feature to sift thru the google logs. Then again, it might uncover some scary stuff.
If you keep your own webserver logs and the users don't hide their referrer strings (99% of them don't) then you could do that on your own website from the numerous search engines.
I could only imagine what data large sites can come up with from the information passed during searches. Hell, it absolutely amazes me on my little tiny site and I only get about 100k hits a month.
I'd like to ask that we allow for a non-CSS version to exist. I, and I believe Taco himself, read Slashdot from a T-mobile sidekick. Prior to the CSS enabled Slashdot I was able to read Slashdot normally with my standard settings.
Now, with CSS enabled, content has shrunk and sometimes sits in an area only a couple characters wide.
Yeah, I can switch to "Light" which is fine if I'm just using the mobile device but I don't. I don't want to have to switch back and forth between the two. Enable non-CSS Slashdot!
I got to experience some altitude sickness at around 10k feet when I went to Maui on my honeymoon. I wasn't a pussy like you in your sealed train! I was out in the open riding a bike down the volcano!
Going from sea level to 10k feet in such a short time sucked *and* I paid a shitload to do it too!
I have seen the complaints and it always seems that you only hear about those that do complain.
I have no complaints other than battery life when watching movies. I only get about 4.5 hours of movie time. I do, however, get about 15 hours of MP3 playback.
I haven't had any problems with reliability and use it all the time.
I have recorded numerous DVDs, TV shows from Tivo, and used downloaded movies (re-encoded with Dr. Divx) on it and haven't seen any "artifacts". Sync issues DO occur if you don't reencode the video though.
I just get around it by recording straight to the device or re-encoding w/Dr. Divx (although I don't do much re-encoding these days as I don't download videos anymore).
Trying to wedge PVR functionality into the portable device is overkill. It's a player. Let the computer do the work... that's why it's there.
Sorry but I love the fact that my portable video player also acts as a PVR. I don't have to re-encode video to play on it and look correct, I don't have to have a Tivo and use "Record to VCR" or Tivo2Go if I don't want to, and I don't have to pay an additional $100+ on a decent PVR card to record content that I'm just putting on a portable device.
It's apparent to me that plenty of people are speculating on how moving content to portable devices will work and how well it will work. I'm not speculating as I do it every day with my Archos AV400.
Having a built in PVR is a GOOD THING.
...the iTunes Video Store being played on Macs with Front Row. Not to mention commuters watching their favorite shows on the train in the mornings and evenings.
On Thursdays alone we record 7 different TV shows on our DirecTivo. *IF* I was paying Tivo ($13/mo) for their service (I only pay Tivo $5/mo extra -- it's free for the year though) I would have made back the cost that iTMS required in one day.
Let's look at a week's worth of shows. 37 shows a week are recorded (on your average Fall season week). That's $74 at iTMS. Still $13/mo with Tivo or $5/mo with DirecTivo. Hmm, yeah, really looks like iTMS is going to win that war...
Not only that but a DirecTivo is $99 (free if you're angry) and includes two tuners. I got my original standalone Tivo for $49.99 and it was free after rebates. A Video iPod is how much? I have to have an Internet connection for iTMS and not so with Tivo or DirecTivo.
To answer your "point" about watching the episodes on mass transit... I have an 80GB Archos media player. I "Record to VCR" my shows and it records them on the Archos. Problem solved.
iTMS will make it easier to get content but it certainly isn't a "Tivo Killer". Before you spout off your pro-Apple crap I think that you should at least first research what your spouting about. Then you don't look like an ass.
So maybe the US will stop its attemps to prevent the European Galileo...
That's the only reason for this article. To put negative spin on the US-based system and give positive PR for Galileo.
Move along.
I would probably catorgorize myself as a casual gamer- I play once a week- often not at all- but I'd say I buy 5-6 games a year. I'd like to play more- but don't have time. Is this just me or are others in this same category?
If you play once a week or less then, yes, I would say that you're a casual gamer. But that's not all... You purchase 5-6 games a year. That makes you more than casual in my book.
While I sometimes play more than once a week or less I have purchased about 5 or 6 games in the last 5+ years. To me, that makes me equally as casual as you.
Boys are still the big buyers and mom sometimes likes Tertis-like games. Making more Tertis-like games may bring in more money, but I don't think it'll be as big as they think. (But I've been wrong before, and as an indie type my self, I'd love to be!)
I enjoy puzzle games like Tetris and specifically "Bejeweled" (or any of the 1000 other names it goes by depending on variation) but that's because they are "free". I can go to Yahoo Games and fire up a game of Gin, Literati, Bejeweled, etc, all for nothing. I don't need a game to sit on my HD taking up space, I don't need the latest and greatest system to run it, I don't need to pay an arm and a leg, and I don't get bored with the game after I "finish" it.
My problem with most modern games is that the long term playability just isn't there. Yeah, most FPS shooters with online play break that mold but there are plenty of others that don't. You need to invest too much in hardware, software, and time and then you're bored with it in a month/year.
I have a Ms. Pacman machine (currently in disrepair unfortunately). It's been out since 1982 and it's just as much fun today as it was then.
I'll take a puzzle game over some multi-million dollar interactive movie anyday.
I don't think you quite understand that aside from a few nutbars, no one is worried about the Earth getting sad. It's the part where we all die a lot earlier that upsets people.
So what? We'll all die. I'm not worried and neither should anyone else be.
Despite doubts about whether or not human activity is contributing to gloabl warming, we still have the responsibility to minimize our impact.
Why? I have said it before and I will say it again -- IT DOES NOT MATTER! The Earth will fix itself. The human race is not important in the grand scheme of things as far as the Earth is concerned.
Just because *we* think that we are important doesn't mean we are.
If it isn't *us* causing the problems by extended life expectancies, eliminating mass disease, over fucking, etc then it's the Earth creating weather, eruptions, whatever to wipe us out.
Face it, it doesn't matter. Get over yourself. The human race just isn't as important as it thinks it is.
A journalist is someone who makes a bona-fide attempt to report news reasonably seen as in the public interest. For example, reporting or commentary on politics, religion, Tara Reid's breasts is all news. Reposting an article from the Times is not.
So, as long as the author is writing something of their own and not reposting someone else's work then they are a journalist? Does that open AP wires, written up in other media, not journalistic media?
So, my website where I write about my experiences elsewhere through creative writing and sometimes "journalism" does fall under the limited guidelines you propose?
Sorry, but there are just too many different kinds of "blogs" for you to lump them under the umbrella of reposting articles from The Times.
Actually, I think it takes longer plus then I have to re-encode to make it display perfectly on the device. It's just better to record realtime to the device IMHO.
but having to transfer your recordings in real time must be a drag, eh?
I don't pay attention and just do it overnight. I never found that Tivo2Go was all that speedy anyway.
Use an Archos. I have an AV400 (80GB) and routinely transfer Tivo recorded shows from my DirecTivo to the device via the "Record to VCR" option.
We take the Archos with us on plane rides, car trips, etc. My wife holds it and I use an FM transmitter to play the sound in the car. Generally we bring along shows that I don't need to *watch* to get the gist of while I drive.
Personally, I'd favor a law that enforced the existing video game ratings, instead of the vague "You could make a bland football game illegal with this" law California passed.
Personally, if I were a CA resident I'd favor a law that fixed any one of the 1000s of other far more important issues that they have there. Instead, they are wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars on something that should be taken care of by the parents of the video game players.
If they parents of any particular video game purchaser don't care then why should the government?
SMALLER GOVERNMENT not bigger. Repeat... SMALLER, not bigger! Good.
..... How tied is this to IE, or by some miracle will it behave exactly the same under other browsers (Firefox, Opera, etc.)?
If you remember GMail, when it was first released, didn't have very good support for other browsers but over time they worked on support for them.
So, even if this *Beta* doesn't have support and the first public release doesn't either, it doesn't mean that in the future they won't.
I'm not holding my breath though.
Many people who are reluctant to undergo this examination are left untreated and can continue to suffer for many years.
So, if people are reluctant to undergo examination by a doctor what makes the researches believe that they will appreciate being stuck w/a needle and then have to sit around and wait out their results?
I'm sure folks in my situation are in a minority, but it's frustrating sometimes to know that something neat like this it out of your grasp.
There are plenty of folks in your situation and they are all quite vocal about it. I tend to agree with you but there are always some slimmed down versions of phones which are available for people in your situation. I have two friends that cannot bring cameras into work. One bought a lower end model phone for $49 and uses that. The other just doesn't bring his phone into work.
As for the rest of the people buying phones out there... 90% of those people have no use for a camera phone and rarely use it at all. If they do use it, it's for crappy photos of their friends while drinking. Yeah, we've all heard a couple of stories where teenaged girls took photos of attacker's license plates, etc.
Some people, like me, enjoy having a phone on their Internet connected phone and use it more than the rest of the public. I have a mobile gallery where I dump all my photos from my phone. Some of those end up on my website in stories about restaurants or some dumb bullshit my friends and my wife did.
So, while they aren't great for everyone and aren't used by most, they are still a useful addition IMHO.
I can see it now, an artist who's talents are probably at the higher end of the spectrum...but this is because he takes a bit more time on his work, thus giving managers the excuse to fire him at whim because he's not "performing up to standards."
Then he'll find a job elsewhere, have better working conditions, probably better pay, and in all liklihood a better self-worth which will cross into his personal life as well.
If EA is really going to bounce a "higher end" talent because they aren't meeting draconian quotas, then they don't give a shit about game quality or employee quality and aren't worth working for anyway.
Get a reliable network connection, just as you would do for your other utilities.
There are few areas that people have permanent residences in without electricity. I can't say that's true for Internet connections.
How about, instead of assuming that everyone out in the world is like you (and every other geek on their high horse), you step down and realize that locally stored programs are a benefit to everyone in the short and long term (like when they start charging you a monthly subscription).
The point: I'd bet that that only a dozen or so bloggers make a decent income, thousands make a little money and millions make nothing from their blogs.
Personally, I shy away from any "blogger" that is doing it professionally. The power of "bloggers" stems from their brtual honesty and their lack of pays offs (in my mind at least). The second someone is paid to do their hobby a couple of negative things happen:
1. They feel inclined to report on something to benefit those that are paying them for fear of losing the stream of money.
2. They get bored w/the job because they are now getting paid for what was once their hobby that they loved.
3. They overdo it to make more revenue.
I write about stupid shit and post it to my website for myself and my friends. Other people do happen along and read it from time to time and I hope that they see it's just for my own personal enjoyment. There's nothing behind it except what I felt at the time. I have no financially motivated agendas to rate one opinion over another.
When you start doing that, your reputation suffers.
Does anyone actually have a use for all these Windows "Tablet PCs"? I mean, the idea seems nice, but I haven't seen any real-world uses for them that laptops don't already meet.
A friend uses an older/used tablet PC in his Explorer for navigation. Using an external GPS unit and Microsoft Streets and Trips he's able to show all the geocaches and the route on a large and easily manipulated screen.
A laptop is fine for this, and I have seen it setup in a Caravan, but interacting via the keyboard/touchpad mouse is a lot more difficult than a simple tap on the screen.
YMMV.