And yet, when the big companies do that (sponsor bills again and again until it gets through), we cry injustice.
This forces us to be forever vigilant and active about the same problem, again and again, because for the people pushing the bill, it IS a full time job, while hobbyists have to defeat them on their own time.
Remember, if they can push it as many time as they want, it means they have as many tries as possible and it is enough for them to win only once.
This is a bit the situation in Europe with software patents. The proposals have beeen defeated several time and yet, they are still trying, by every possible means...
And I must say that this decision (no hardwrae acceleration) will badly hurt Creative Labs. Maybe, just maybe, this screw up will restart some competition in the sound card market?
No, the 16GBps on a 16x connector is TRUE. They just count both ways, as the PCIe are one way, point to point transfer and they have one lane per direction (so a 16x slot has 16 lanes up AND 16 lanes down). This way, you have 16GBps total transfer: 8GBps in each direction.
A bit confusing and slightly misleading, but true.
Or much simpler: manufacture them yourself and sell them to the highest bidder. Once law enforcements will come against people using them, they will either:
- forbid their sale
- buy them all
- both
The whole point of copyright is money. Shouldn't anyone suing over a copyright issue have to show that their client suffered financial loss right up front before anything else?
You are wrong. The whole point of Copyright is Control. The right holder can choose who can reproduce his work and under which condition. Most holders will trade that right for money, but money is just a way to use that right, it is not the right itself.
When you post on Slashdot, your post IS copyrighted to you. There is no money involve and i doubt you will ever make a dime off of it, but it belongs to you and reproduction is forbidden. This is the same with anything one creates. Now, this protection gives you the opportunity to exploit your creation for money.
Never mix up control and money. they are often linked, but they are not the same...
Actually, Marvel did not win against Cryptic on that case, After a few months in court, both parties reach a settlement which resulted in... nothing against Cryptic (or maybe a payment) and absolutly no incidence on the costume creator. They just started to hit on replica costumes (ie: if you create a costume close to a Marvell character with a similar name, expect a name change from the Game Masters).
So, I would not expect him to win. There is no precedent that a feature allowing to create custom characters that *could* look like someone real or copyrighted is illegal, as it has *MANY* legal uses.
You are missing the point that your eye cannot even see such a high contrast all at once. The eye has a very effective contrast control mechanism (the pupil), but it works in time, as the eye scan the space. So, our dynamic range at an instant T is small, but as this range is adjusted to the subject we observe, the resulting image we record is using a much higher range.
The idea of the GP, that is currently under study by the camera manufacturers, is to allow the camera to do that range adjustment as it scans the image. You can then render the resulting image on a normal monitor or print it out.
I've seen some images recreated with those algorithms and they are stunning.
The display described here is the brute force approach. It will work, but it is a lot of effort for a result that can be reached more easily.
In my case, I already require AnyDVD anyway, as my MCE PC send infos to my TV in a set 1080i resolution and DVDs do not want to be sent over 480p. So, I used AnyDVD to strip macrovision from the signal and... voila.
Those protections are moronic and only get in the way of legitimate users. People that know what they are doing (tech educated, hackers...) will be able to find an appropriate tool in minutes. This "protection" would probably not even stop a ripper program...
I agree with you. But this has to be taken with some perspective.
Next week, the report will be about how bathroom breaks cost the government 2.5 million dollars and that smoke and coffee break are actually a sinkhole at over 4 million dollars.
The study is talking about 15 minutes per day. This stems from the stupid assumption that people have to be performing at work for (at least) 8h straight (somehow, those studies never talk about unpaid overtime...). The y talk productivity with metrics that are highly irrational (taking a break can be GOOD for productivity).
So, in conclusion, this study does not bring anything to the table and just goes for the shock factor. Color me surprised...
your maths are good, ut your assumptions are wrong. What is holding up the production is the supply of bluray diodes. Those are "ramping up", meaning they are producing more (better yields) every months. They will have enough lasers to ship 500k consoles in mid november (actually shipped well before release date I would expect). Every month after that, they will produce more lasers, reaching up to the 1.2M units in january.
So, their 2.4M total in 2006 are the 500k of the launch plus the 1.9M shipped in november and december. Then, they plan 1.2M each month starting in january. Total at the end of their fiscal year: 2.4+1.2x3=6M. They may not reach that target, but it is their plan.
And If they can produce them, I have little doubt they'll be able to sell them...
and what it never mentions is how did they connect those DVD players to the TV. The simple chinese junk costing under 100$ are usually connected via a composite, or an S-Video cable at best. Now the difference in the quality of signal you can get through a composite cable and a higher-end component or HDMI connection is rather large. If they connected the PC's using VGA or DVI and the players using a cheap composite cable - well, no wonder the players sucked. You just can't transfer that kind of information through a single wire.
True, but the question came in the comments and the author answered. This is all digital connection HDMI->DVI for the DVD players, all in 480p. The cards are DVI->DVI in 1920x1200. He also explains that the screen would do no scaling.
On a side note, the other reason most people use component players is their sound. A good Hi-Fi player has a much higher quality sound than any PC. You can probably get close to the quality of the sound of a under-1K$ player wtih a great sound for a PC, but let's face it: latest generation video card + high end sound + the PC... There is no much price difference. And that PC still doesn't play SACD.
You use the same ampli for the PC or the DVD most of the time, passing the DD/DTS signal from the DVD through SPDIF. The cost is the same and the sound result the same. Your point being? And to play SACD, you need a Creative Lab sound Card. The high end of it are certified. Not sure which model, as this is not a feature I am interested in.
your problem is somewhat specific and lack of implementation. Following my natural upgrade schedule of 2-3 years per computer, I reconditionned my last computer (nforce2/AMD3200+) as a media center. Put winMCE on it, a ATI remote I had laying around and dual tuner card, added some storage and VOILA!
My wife took a *little* time to get used to it, but once she discovered the tivo-like capabilities (*shes had never heard or tried a tivo), she loved it. Easy to operate with a remote (one button for on or off, can watch TV, record any show at the push of a button, play DVD, show images...).
A media Center geared to the familly *IS* a different bit than a simple computer. People *EXPECT* consummer electronics to just WORK. You can pretty much reach a seamless integration with a good remote and a nice program (be it winMCE, mythTV or other), but it necessitates work on YOUR part. The rest of the familly will just enjoy it, you'll have to maintain it.
So, you can do it, but it takes planning and time. In my case, the time sharing problem you have is solved, as it was a decommisionned computer (we have 3 comps in the house). And with a hardware accelerated GPU and tuner, you dont need much specs for a MCE box...
Middle management is a great waste of skin. Plus they often take a fairly large salary while not generating revenue or a product. Intel started by laying off 2000 managers last month, before going for the workers. They consolidated teams so that a manager had between 4 to 8 people, making it useful and not too redundant.
most people are not running 1024 or 1280 desktops...most are still running 800 or at most 1024.
let's correct your statement for you... This here rather large poll of PC gamers (courtesy of steam) returns that most gamers use either 1024 or 1280. http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html A nice poll on over 700k users.
A spyware company called Zango (formerly 180 solution) has been caught trying to infect user's PCs through an automatic download triggered by a video. Their latest scheme is to post and encourage to post those videos on myspace pages.
As the user base of myspace is not that tech savvy, they click "yes" to the pop up that ask if they want the software installed (presented as required to see the video, or even automatic when the video try to load, i'm not sure) and they find themselves infected by the spyware.
It seems some emails proving that scheme have been found.
Yahoo obtained most of their other known departments through acquisition and mergers. (Their recruiting was with hotjob).
Some of their services developped as extensions of their portal. They did it well enough though and still maintain an interesting mix of services, such as the ones you described (finance, personnals...). This is the whole POINT of being a portal, a one stop for all your information.
I do check news on yahoo, while i search on google. However, the news market online is much smaller than the search market... (you search for news, you don't news for search).
imagine a world where there's an open source electronic voting software package that everybody used... wouldn't you want the voting machine to be able to reject software that wasn't say verified by a voting auditing board and signed?
the same thing could be true of open source ATM software. would you want your ATM to whine like HAL having his memory yanked when malware was loaded onto it, or would you want it to refuse to run?
Then I guess the GPL v3 would be a bad fit for their software. Noone is forcing the world to switch immediatly and completly to the GPLv3. What the FSF is doing is offering a license that cannot be used in such devices.
If TiVo takes a version of Linux, add their proprietary drivers and functions for their box and distribute it signed, noone can then modify that code and run it instead. If you cannot really change the code, what is the point of having the source? Now, imagine that they disable ad skipping. If their version is signed, there is no way to re-enable it, source available or not. This is not freedom and this is not the FSF's idea of open. If the basic program they use is licensed under GPLv3, all their derivations need to respect the license and let you run YOUR modifications too. Sure, you gain the possibility to brick your device, but with greater power comes greater responsibilities.
Now, for your voting booth analogy, the code license would be the least of my concerns. I would like it to be physically secure (no accessible USB ports or open box with access to the hardware). If you cannot load a modified version, you cannot change the behavior, be it from an OSS program or a proprietary one.
Moreover, although i'd like the source to be reviewed, even if this was a GPL program, YOU would not get the source unless you get the binary, which is quite unlikely...
If having paying customers is not enough incentive to build the next generation networking infrastructure, I don't see what else is enough.
Oh, they already got a better deal: the government paid them already in tax deductions and incentives to build that fast internet they claim can only happen with no net neutrality.
In effect, they will be paid *TWICE* and probably still wont deliver.
It seems to me that the biggest reason that they are insisting on controlling their own networks is that it is simply more profitable to them, no surprise the telcom giant want to do the same to the internet
The problem is that this assumption is wrong. Their proprietay network will make more immediate money, but an open network as a higher probability to develop (for example, the internet).
If the telcos had had that kind of power over the internet 10 years ago, we would *STILL* use modems to connect to BBS and download verified applications. There would have been no ".com" boom and and no crazy internet interest. This freedom brought big bucks to them, but they cannot control it. They control neither the development or the success. With cell phone, all the side options are fully controlled and milked, but there is no development on it (no-one is using those functions except for what the operators designed them for).
This is a stale world that just reaps the profit from an initial investment. Slow, controlled predictable growth. The way the beancounters like it... But by minimizing the risks, they also minimize the possible pay-off... No risk, no profit.
Isn't this like say TV networks and radio stations have a bad business model, because all they sell are commercials?
And do you see where they stand now that a device that can block Ads is out (tivo or any other PVR)?
Google is subject to the same kind of problem, but to a lesser extend. Why? Because their ads are usually relevant (contextual) and moreover, they are un-intrusive (text only, not some loud flashing banner with sound).
People want to see advertisement, as strange as it seems. It's part of our information. It tells us what product can be found and where. There is a bright future in advertisement if done right and so far, this has been google's doings (hence those results).
I completely agree with you. People buy lots of HD-TVs lately and those people have the income for it. When you buy a $3k TV set and a $300 sound system to go with it, a $600 console with a next gen player does not frighten you.
There is a market for the PS3. It is *NOT* the usual gaming market. We will see how this market will react at launch time...
There are other similarities, such as Nintendo falling down because they stuck with proprietary cartridges instead of jumping on the CD/DVD bandwagon. Sony is now pushing proprietary Blu-Ray technology.
The difference was that it was a different trade-off. Nintendo stuck to cartridge that were more expansive, offered a LOT less storage, but higher speed access. They did it to keep their income in that market (you HAD to buy your cartridge from Nintendo).
Although Sony has the same type of motivation (make money on their standard), it is a bit different. Blu-ray will have MORE storage, will be only marginally more expensive (on the manufacturing of each media) and comparable for access. It is a much bigger gamble push though, as it is their trojan horse for the next gen video format. Even if PS3 sells only 50% of their target (3M by next year), that would be much more than stand alone HD-DVDs and the gamble worked.
I probably wont by a PS3 at release (too expansive), but i'll wait to see what runs on it to make my decision.
Slashdot Mirror
And yet, when the big companies do that (sponsor bills again and again until it gets through), we cry injustice.
This forces us to be forever vigilant and active about the same problem, again and again, because for the people pushing the bill, it IS a full time job, while hobbyists have to defeat them on their own time.
Remember, if they can push it as many time as they want, it means they have as many tries as possible and it is enough for them to win only once.
This is a bit the situation in Europe with software patents. The proposals have beeen defeated several time and yet, they are still trying, by every possible means...
Voodoo extreme has nothing to do with this article. They are only pointing to it.
The real article is at IGN:
http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/759/759538p1.html
Please, skip the redirections and ad views...
And I must say that this decision (no hardwrae acceleration) will badly hurt Creative Labs. Maybe, just maybe, this screw up will restart some competition in the sound card market?
No, the 16GBps on a 16x connector is TRUE. They just count both ways, as the PCIe are one way, point to point transfer and they have one lane per direction (so a 16x slot has 16 lanes up AND 16 lanes down). This way, you have 16GBps total transfer: 8GBps in each direction.
A bit confusing and slightly misleading, but true.
Or much simpler: manufacture them yourself and sell them to the highest bidder.
Once law enforcements will come against people using them, they will either:
- forbid their sale
- buy them all
- both
The whole point of copyright is money. Shouldn't anyone suing over a copyright issue have to show that their client suffered financial loss right up front before anything else?
You are wrong. The whole point of Copyright is Control. The right holder can choose who can reproduce his work and under which condition. Most holders will trade that right for money, but money is just a way to use that right, it is not the right itself.
When you post on Slashdot, your post IS copyrighted to you. There is no money involve and i doubt you will ever make a dime off of it, but it belongs to you and reproduction is forbidden. This is the same with anything one creates. Now, this protection gives you the opportunity to exploit your creation for money.
Never mix up control and money. they are often linked, but they are not the same...
Actually, Marvel did not win against Cryptic on that case, After a few months in court, both parties reach a settlement which resulted in... nothing against Cryptic (or maybe a payment) and absolutly no incidence on the costume creator. They just started to hit on replica costumes (ie: if you create a costume close to a Marvell character with a similar name, expect a name change from the Game Masters).
You can read more here:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/675/675667p1.html
So, I would not expect him to win. There is no precedent that a feature allowing to create custom characters that *could* look like someone real or copyrighted is illegal, as it has *MANY* legal uses.
Yup. You missed the fact his online articles are free to access.
You are missing the point that your eye cannot even see such a high contrast all at once.
The eye has a very effective contrast control mechanism (the pupil), but it works in time, as the eye scan the space. So, our dynamic range at an instant T is small, but as this range is adjusted to the subject we observe, the resulting image we record is using a much higher range.
The idea of the GP, that is currently under study by the camera manufacturers, is to allow the camera to do that range adjustment as it scans the image. You can then render the resulting image on a normal monitor or print it out.
I've seen some images recreated with those algorithms and they are stunning.
The display described here is the brute force approach. It will work, but it is a lot of effort for a result that can be reached more easily.
In my case, I already require AnyDVD anyway, as my MCE PC send infos to my TV in a set 1080i resolution and DVDs do not want to be sent over 480p. So, I used AnyDVD to strip macrovision from the signal and... voila.
Those protections are moronic and only get in the way of legitimate users. People that know what they are doing (tech educated, hackers...) will be able to find an appropriate tool in minutes. This "protection" would probably not even stop a ripper program...
I agree with you.
But this has to be taken with some perspective.
Next week, the report will be about how bathroom breaks cost the government 2.5 million dollars and that smoke and coffee break are actually a sinkhole at over 4 million dollars.
The study is talking about 15 minutes per day.
This stems from the stupid assumption that people have to be performing at work for (at least) 8h straight (somehow, those studies never talk about unpaid overtime...). The y talk productivity with metrics that are highly irrational (taking a break can be GOOD for productivity).
So, in conclusion, this study does not bring anything to the table and just goes for the shock factor.
Color me surprised...
Am I the only one to see the irony in Yahoo reporting a new Google application?
your maths are good, ut your assumptions are wrong.
What is holding up the production is the supply of bluray diodes.
Those are "ramping up", meaning they are producing more (better yields) every months.
They will have enough lasers to ship 500k consoles in mid november (actually shipped well before release date I would expect). Every month after that, they will produce more lasers, reaching up to the 1.2M units in january.
So, their 2.4M total in 2006 are the 500k of the launch plus the 1.9M shipped in november and december. Then, they plan 1.2M each month starting in january.
Total at the end of their fiscal year: 2.4+1.2x3=6M.
They may not reach that target, but it is their plan.
And If they can produce them, I have little doubt they'll be able to sell them...
and what it never mentions is how did they connect those DVD players to the TV. The simple chinese junk costing under 100$ are usually connected via a composite, or an S-Video cable at best. Now the difference in the quality of signal you can get through a composite cable and a higher-end component or HDMI connection is rather large. If they connected the PC's using VGA or DVI and the players using a cheap composite cable - well, no wonder the players sucked. You just can't transfer that kind of information through a single wire.
True, but the question came in the comments and the author answered. This is all digital connection HDMI->DVI for the DVD players, all in 480p. The cards are DVI->DVI in 1920x1200. He also explains that the screen would do no scaling.
On a side note, the other reason most people use component players is their sound. A good Hi-Fi player has a much higher quality sound than any PC. You can probably get close to the quality of the sound of a under-1K$ player wtih a great sound for a PC, but let's face it: latest generation video card + high end sound + the PC... There is no much price difference. And that PC still doesn't play SACD.
You use the same ampli for the PC or the DVD most of the time, passing the DD/DTS signal from the DVD through SPDIF. The cost is the same and the sound result the same. Your point being?
And to play SACD, you need a Creative Lab sound Card. The high end of it are certified. Not sure which model, as this is not a feature I am interested in.
your problem is somewhat specific and lack of implementation.
Following my natural upgrade schedule of 2-3 years per computer, I reconditionned my last computer (nforce2/AMD3200+) as a media center. Put winMCE on it, a ATI remote I had laying around and dual tuner card, added some storage and VOILA!
My wife took a *little* time to get used to it, but once she discovered the tivo-like capabilities (*shes had never heard or tried a tivo), she loved it. Easy to operate with a remote (one button for on or off, can watch TV, record any show at the push of a button, play DVD, show images...).
A media Center geared to the familly *IS* a different bit than a simple computer. People *EXPECT* consummer electronics to just WORK. You can pretty much reach a seamless integration with a good remote and a nice program (be it winMCE, mythTV or other), but it necessitates work on YOUR part. The rest of the familly will just enjoy it, you'll have to maintain it.
So, you can do it, but it takes planning and time.
In my case, the time sharing problem you have is solved, as it was a decommisionned computer (we have 3 comps in the house). And with a hardware accelerated GPU and tuner, you dont need much specs for a MCE box...
Middle management is a great waste of skin. Plus they often take a fairly large salary while not generating revenue or a product.
Intel started by laying off 2000 managers last month, before going for the workers.
They consolidated teams so that a manager had between 4 to 8 people, making it useful and not too redundant.
let's correct your statement for you...
This here rather large poll of PC gamers (courtesy of steam) returns that most gamers use either 1024 or 1280.
http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html
A nice poll on over 700k users.
A spyware company called Zango (formerly 180 solution) has been caught trying to infect user's PCs through an automatic download triggered by a video. Their latest scheme is to post and encourage to post those videos on myspace pages.
As the user base of myspace is not that tech savvy, they click "yes" to the pop up that ask if they want the software installed (presented as required to see the video, or even automatic when the video try to load, i'm not sure) and they find themselves infected by the spyware.
It seems some emails proving that scheme have been found.
Yahoo obtained most of their other known departments through acquisition and mergers.
(Their recruiting was with hotjob).
Some of their services developped as extensions of their portal. They did it well enough though and still maintain an interesting mix of services, such as the ones you described (finance, personnals...). This is the whole POINT of being a portal, a one stop for all your information.
I do check news on yahoo, while i search on google. However, the news market online is much smaller than the search market... (you search for news, you don't news for search).
Then I guess the GPL v3 would be a bad fit for their software. Noone is forcing the world to switch immediatly and completly to the GPLv3. What the FSF is doing is offering a license that cannot be used in such devices.
If TiVo takes a version of Linux, add their proprietary drivers and functions for their box and distribute it signed, noone can then modify that code and run it instead. If you cannot really change the code, what is the point of having the source? Now, imagine that they disable ad skipping. If their version is signed, there is no way to re-enable it, source available or not. This is not freedom and this is not the FSF's idea of open. If the basic program they use is licensed under GPLv3, all their derivations need to respect the license and let you run YOUR modifications too. Sure, you gain the possibility to brick your device, but with greater power comes greater responsibilities.
Now, for your voting booth analogy, the code license would be the least of my concerns. I would like it to be physically secure (no accessible USB ports or open box with access to the hardware). If you cannot load a modified version, you cannot change the behavior, be it from an OSS program or a proprietary one.
Moreover, although i'd like the source to be reviewed, even if this was a GPL program, YOU would not get the source unless you get the binary, which is quite unlikely...
Oh, they already got a better deal: the government paid them already in tax deductions and incentives to build that fast internet they claim can only happen with no net neutrality.
In effect, they will be paid *TWICE* and probably still wont deliver.
The problem is that this assumption is wrong. Their proprietay network will make more immediate money, but an open network as a higher probability to develop (for example, the internet).
If the telcos had had that kind of power over the internet 10 years ago, we would *STILL* use modems to connect to BBS and download verified applications. There would have been no ".com" boom and and no crazy internet interest. This freedom brought big bucks to them, but they cannot control it. They control neither the development or the success. With cell phone, all the side options are fully controlled and milked, but there is no development on it (no-one is using those functions except for what the operators designed them for).
This is a stale world that just reaps the profit from an initial investment. Slow, controlled predictable growth. The way the beancounters like it... But by minimizing the risks, they also minimize the possible pay-off... No risk, no profit.
And do you see where they stand now that a device that can block Ads is out (tivo or any other PVR)?
Google is subject to the same kind of problem, but to a lesser extend. Why? Because their ads are usually relevant (contextual) and moreover, they are un-intrusive (text only, not some loud flashing banner with sound).
People want to see advertisement, as strange as it seems. It's part of our information. It tells us what product can be found and where. There is a bright future in advertisement if done right and so far, this has been google's doings (hence those results).
the 3 x360 japanese owners are scared shitless already...
I completely agree with you. People buy lots of HD-TVs lately and those people have the income for it. When you buy a $3k TV set and a $300 sound system to go with it, a $600 console with a next gen player does not frighten you.
There is a market for the PS3. It is *NOT* the usual gaming market. We will see how this market will react at launch time...
The difference was that it was a different trade-off. Nintendo stuck to cartridge that were more expansive, offered a LOT less storage, but higher speed access. They did it to keep their income in that market (you HAD to buy your cartridge from Nintendo).
Although Sony has the same type of motivation (make money on their standard), it is a bit different. Blu-ray will have MORE storage, will be only marginally more expensive (on the manufacturing of each media) and comparable for access. It is a much bigger gamble push though, as it is their trojan horse for the next gen video format. Even if PS3 sells only 50% of their target (3M by next year), that would be much more than stand alone HD-DVDs and the gamble worked.
I probably wont by a PS3 at release (too expansive), but i'll wait to see what runs on it to make my decision.