Ogg is really popular in Asia, especially Korea. So all the players coming out of there (which is a lot of players!) support Ogg playback. You really have a lot of choices for portable players, but you might have to buy them online - not a lot of US brick-and-mortar stores carry weird Korean import hardware. The good thing is, since there's no licensing fee and the player chipsets are just going to keep getting better and better, there's no obvious reason for any manufacturer that supports Ogg to drop it. Even if it becomes a marginal format everywhere, there's no extra cost in keeping it around.
There's also good news that Sigmatel, a major supplier of chips to DAP makers, is producing reference chips based on the Rio Karma, which had a lot of advanced features that no one else has caught up with yet, including Ogg playback. Sigmatel provides chips for the Shuffle, even, so there's an infitesimally slim chance that even Apple could provide Ogg support in the future.
However, like a sibling said, rip to FLAC and then transcode for whatever player you happen to have. No quality loss and it's future-proof.
First off, this is speculation based on a patent from 2001 in Japan, and patented in the US in 2004. So it's not brand new.
Secondly, there's already a system in place to do this for Online games at least - the DNAS copy-protection system can enable this behavior (locking the disc to a specific console) but no publishers enable it, for the obvious reason that it would piss a lot of people off.
While console makers would no doubt like to stop second-hand sales, I think they realize that people would be less likely to buy the hardware if they're unable to play second-hand games, and that game retailers make most of their money on second-hand games - killing that market would kill the retailers.
Of course, I woudl have said the same things about rootkits on audio CDs. So we'll see.
No, what I was thinking of involved things like 3d car models driving around on a (real) tabletop, and having fairly accurate collisions with objects on the table. There was also a presenter holding polygon objects, that moved as he moved his hand, and a CGI helicopter and tanks that flew around the place. It looked really fascinating as a video, but I'm not sure how practical it would actually be.
Besides, getting U.N. members even to so much as agree as to the time of day is a challenge in and of itself:-P
Isn't this a good sign for maintaining the Internet status quo? There's no way the UN could have a successful vote on a major Internet policy change. That sounds a lot more stable to me than ICANN (especially after the whole Verisign fiasco).
I don't think it necessarily needs to happen, but I don't think it would lead to the downfall of the Internet if the UN took over.
I actually re-read 1984 recently, and last night I also re-read Fahrenheit 451. I think the distopian future we're headed towards is really more 451 than anything else (although it's a blend of both). There's no single "Party" trying to suppress rational thought and destroy information; rather it's arising out of a general social/corporate attitude, from the bottom up rather than the top down.
One other realization I've come to, along the lines of the grandparent - we have been protected from anti-free-information types thus far, simply because for the most part they didn't understand. People who understood the technology were likely to believe in the implicit goals of free information, available knowledge, and general belief in freedom vs. censorship. However, we're seeing that gap close, and we haven't got many other defenses. They're learning how the technology works, and they're even staying on the cutting edge, to make sure this sort of freedom doesn't somehow crop up again in the next wave of inventions. I think in a way, we saw the hole in the dragon's armor, and we have a shot at it - but it's currently patching it up. We had the tools to kill the beast, and we wounded it.
Isn't part of the idea of a democracy is that it's inefficient? It's tough to change anything, because you have a bunch of different groups with different perspectives arguing about it, and blocking each other and so forth. It's a bad thing when you get one group with all the power in charge, because then they can go ahead and push through any changes they like.
So instead of having the US able to set policy on the Internet (free political speech, but no hardcore porn or drug references!) You'd have a gamut of nations all putting in their views. Sure, occasionally you'd get China in the chairman's seat, but hopefully that would be blocked by every other nation disagreeing with them - like having a republican president and democratic congress. In that sort of situation, the only things that can get done are the ones that everyone agrees on.
Of course, this would only work if the goal was to change as little as possible - you'd also be paralyzed if you wanted to make positive but controversial changes.
I realize that the root DNS isn't really the same thing as control over the content and philosophies of the Internet, and I'm not really _unhappy_ over the US retaining control (well, at least until this porn crackdown thing...) but I don't see that turning control over to the UN would be terrible, either. It might even help preserve the status quo through total inefficiency, one of the greatest checks built in to democratic systems.
It also seems to me that the greatest threat to the Internet right now isn't anti-democracy forces, but corporations. And few nations are as friendly to the corporations as the US is. So maybe turning control over to an international body would help prevent making P2P illegal.
I was wondering about that too. One thing that came to mind (although I'm not certain it was what he meant) was a technology I saw in a video on the web recently. I can't find a link, but basically this company had technology that could get a lot of information from (multiple?) cameras in a room, and then insert moving 3d objects in real time. They said that with a HUD display, you could basically superimpose renders over real life (assuming you had the cameras in place, I guess).
I thought that would make an excellent, fairly-cheap VR experience. It could only occur in prepared rooms (holodecks?) but still, it would be really excellent for gaming, especially if you could do it with cheap cameras in your living room.
Does anyone have a link to the video I'm talking about?
This reminds me of that parody of the fiddle contest with the devil, where the programmer tries to outcode the devil for an infinite-jelly-donut machine.
I don't understand why anyone would want to play a game like Morrowind on the Xbox. It seems to me to be tailor-made for PC, especially given the huge amount of content.
Of course, I say this based on Morrowind, not Oblivion. I really hope they haven't compromised the PC version to make a better console game, like some games. I hate it when I buy a PC game only to find out it was meant to be played with a controller, has save points instead of free saves, and obviously skimped on content or complex controls in order to be a viable console game.
I also think it's interesting that the phrase is "science and the useful arts"... That would seem to me to imply inventions, research, and pragmatic problem solutions, not "non-useful" arts like music, literature, or visual arts.
What sort of history lies in including those works for consideration?
But all of this is okay, because philosophy is not trying to be practical, nor is the criteria of practicality appropriate to it.
Unless you're a pragmatist!
I also have a philosophy degree. I recommend it for everyone. Like academic study in any field, the subject matter of what you learn is not the most important part - the important part is the modes of thought you go through while learning. It's about learning how to ask interesting questions, and how to explore potential answers. It's about learning what important thoughts have shaped the history of human experience, and how those thoughts have lead us to a deeper understanding of the world. It's also about learning how to examine ideas critically and discuss them in a meaningful way - it's no coincidence that philosophy is a good field of study for those wanting to be lawyers.
I think the world would be a better place if everyone in it studied philosophy at one point or another.
Yeah, absolutely. When I was poor and in college, I pirated all my games. Once I graduated and got a job (working for a game company!) I started buying games - lots of games, I'm a good customer.
However, my experience as a paying customer is much, much worse than it was as a pirate. I can remember a few games becoming unstable as a result of cracks, or certain files being corrupted from downloaded versions, but nothing as frustrating as trying to deal with copy-protection on legitimately purchased games. Simply having to switch CDs around when I want to play a different game, or watch a movie or something, is really frustrating. So much so that I no-cd every game I buy now. I still pay for them, but in order to get a good experience I have to break the law. (I think no-cd on something you own breaks the DMCA, right?)
But I'm partially responsible for this, just like most gamers are. Tycho of Penny Arcade recently related how he had been unable to get a DVD game working on his machine due to copy protection. He wanted to return the game, get his money back, fight the system... but he also wanted to play the game, so he exchanged it for the CD version, instead. And I do the same thing - instead of complaining when copy protection ruins my gaming experience, I quietly crack it and continue on. The maker gets my money and doesn't hear the screams of frustration.
Although, since you can't return PC games anyway, there's not much of a financial protest I could make - not buy further games from that publisher, I suppose, but that's like punishing a dog for climbing on the sofa last week - if there's a disconnect between action and discipline, the lesson is not learned.
(Of course they won't be pulling that in 8 hours/day, but even 1 hour/day gives them 75% more than the programmer, plus potentially a boat-load of free time)
On the other hand, they have to wear those wigs. So maybe it all balances out.
In the USA, the only online activity that'll really put you behind bars is one you deserve it for: child porn
This isn't true. Putting aside all the obvious things like credit card fraud, hacking, conspiracy to assassinate public figures, and so forth, the US justice department has recently started arresting people for running regular old porn sites. And surprisingly, text-only porn sites! (The written word has historically enjoyed greater protection than other forms of media...)
So you bring up the spectre of Iran or China having a say. Well, the US is not likely to censor pro-democracy protesters right now, but remember that we're allied with some pretty extreme views in lines of things like safe sex in AIDS-stricken countries.
In addition, you fail to see the *other* side of the coin: for every Iran, there's a Nederlands that would get a say in things. In fact, given the current consenting-adults porn crackdown, I'd say there are more countries who support greater freedom of speech than the US in the UN than there are oppressive countries.
I never thought he was too bad - I mean, he was a little pompous and self-important, and his writing was overblown, but his ideas and the discussions they provoked were interesting.
If Columbine happened today, I don't doubt that bloggers would dissect it from every angle, and talk about the point of view of the perpetrators, and lots of geeks who had a hard time in high school would speak their minds.
But at the time, there was really no place like that (at least, that I knew about) - it was really refreshing to hear from a geek's point of view, and talk about the alienation many of us experienced in public schools, and the frustration at the system that perpetuated that treatment. I was really glad Jon Katz was there to be willing to take up that banner, and Slashdot was willing to give the geek perspective on things.
I think it would be great if we saw more original writing like that - takes on world events from a geek perspective.
I picked up Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright a week ago.
I haven't even played Phoenix Wright yet because Trauma Center is so great! It really feels like you're performing surgery, the level of tension is really well done. You feel like you have to do everything quickly and well, and weird things keep happening to throw you off.
It's very linear, and they tell you every procedure to use, so you don't have to use any actual creativity, but it's still a lot of fun.
The game really shows what the stylus is good for, though - the game wouldn't be the same without it. It really gives me hope for the Revolution games.
Slashdot Mirror
Ogg is really popular in Asia, especially Korea. So all the players coming out of there (which is a lot of players!) support Ogg playback. You really have a lot of choices for portable players, but you might have to buy them online - not a lot of US brick-and-mortar stores carry weird Korean import hardware. The good thing is, since there's no licensing fee and the player chipsets are just going to keep getting better and better, there's no obvious reason for any manufacturer that supports Ogg to drop it. Even if it becomes a marginal format everywhere, there's no extra cost in keeping it around.
There's also good news that Sigmatel, a major supplier of chips to DAP makers, is producing reference chips based on the Rio Karma, which had a lot of advanced features that no one else has caught up with yet, including Ogg playback. Sigmatel provides chips for the Shuffle, even, so there's an infitesimally slim chance that even Apple could provide Ogg support in the future.
However, like a sibling said, rip to FLAC and then transcode for whatever player you happen to have. No quality loss and it's future-proof.
First off, this is speculation based on a patent from 2001 in Japan, and patented in the US in 2004. So it's not brand new.
Secondly, there's already a system in place to do this for Online games at least - the DNAS copy-protection system can enable this behavior (locking the disc to a specific console) but no publishers enable it, for the obvious reason that it would piss a lot of people off.
While console makers would no doubt like to stop second-hand sales, I think they realize that people would be less likely to buy the hardware if they're unable to play second-hand games, and that game retailers make most of their money on second-hand games - killing that market would kill the retailers.
Of course, I woudl have said the same things about rootkits on audio CDs. So we'll see.
Did the founding fathers label some particular part of the United States as the heart and other parts as some other kind of body part?
It's well known that Florida is America's wang.
Here's a link, although it's in Real Media format (the first version I saw wasn't).
V ideo_Games
http://www.digg.com/technology/The_future_of_the_
No, what I was thinking of involved things like 3d car models driving around on a (real) tabletop, and having fairly accurate collisions with objects on the table. There was also a presenter holding polygon objects, that moved as he moved his hand, and a CGI helicopter and tanks that flew around the place. It looked really fascinating as a video, but I'm not sure how practical it would actually be.
Besides, getting U.N. members even to so much as agree as to the time of day is a challenge in and of itself :-P
Isn't this a good sign for maintaining the Internet status quo? There's no way the UN could have a successful vote on a major Internet policy change. That sounds a lot more stable to me than ICANN (especially after the whole Verisign fiasco).
I don't think it necessarily needs to happen, but I don't think it would lead to the downfall of the Internet if the UN took over.
In this situation, wouldn't the poop deck *be* the whole deck?
I actually re-read 1984 recently, and last night I also re-read Fahrenheit 451. I think the distopian future we're headed towards is really more 451 than anything else (although it's a blend of both). There's no single "Party" trying to suppress rational thought and destroy information; rather it's arising out of a general social/corporate attitude, from the bottom up rather than the top down.
One other realization I've come to, along the lines of the grandparent - we have been protected from anti-free-information types thus far, simply because for the most part they didn't understand. People who understood the technology were likely to believe in the implicit goals of free information, available knowledge, and general belief in freedom vs. censorship. However, we're seeing that gap close, and we haven't got many other defenses. They're learning how the technology works, and they're even staying on the cutting edge, to make sure this sort of freedom doesn't somehow crop up again in the next wave of inventions. I think in a way, we saw the hole in the dragon's armor, and we have a shot at it - but it's currently patching it up. We had the tools to kill the beast, and we wounded it.
The ethics of data brokers, the teeth of hens, the wings of pigs, the venom sacs of walruses....
Yeah.
Isn't part of the idea of a democracy is that it's inefficient? It's tough to change anything, because you have a bunch of different groups with different perspectives arguing about it, and blocking each other and so forth. It's a bad thing when you get one group with all the power in charge, because then they can go ahead and push through any changes they like.
So instead of having the US able to set policy on the Internet (free political speech, but no hardcore porn or drug references!) You'd have a gamut of nations all putting in their views. Sure, occasionally you'd get China in the chairman's seat, but hopefully that would be blocked by every other nation disagreeing with them - like having a republican president and democratic congress. In that sort of situation, the only things that can get done are the ones that everyone agrees on.
Of course, this would only work if the goal was to change as little as possible - you'd also be paralyzed if you wanted to make positive but controversial changes.
I realize that the root DNS isn't really the same thing as control over the content and philosophies of the Internet, and I'm not really _unhappy_ over the US retaining control (well, at least until this porn crackdown thing...) but I don't see that turning control over to the UN would be terrible, either. It might even help preserve the status quo through total inefficiency, one of the greatest checks built in to democratic systems.
It also seems to me that the greatest threat to the Internet right now isn't anti-democracy forces, but corporations. And few nations are as friendly to the corporations as the US is. So maybe turning control over to an international body would help prevent making P2P illegal.
I was wondering about that too. One thing that came to mind (although I'm not certain it was what he meant) was a technology I saw in a video on the web recently. I can't find a link, but basically this company had technology that could get a lot of information from (multiple?) cameras in a room, and then insert moving 3d objects in real time. They said that with a HUD display, you could basically superimpose renders over real life (assuming you had the cameras in place, I guess).
I thought that would make an excellent, fairly-cheap VR experience. It could only occur in prepared rooms (holodecks?) but still, it would be really excellent for gaming, especially if you could do it with cheap cameras in your living room.
Does anyone have a link to the video I'm talking about?
This reminds me of that parody of the fiddle contest with the devil, where the programmer tries to outcode the devil for an infinite-jelly-donut machine.
He wins by using the extra memory in his watch...
Gooooorrrm. Nice woody word that. Gooorm. Not at all tinny. Gooorrrm.
...As long as the PC version is on time.
I don't understand why anyone would want to play a game like Morrowind on the Xbox. It seems to me to be tailor-made for PC, especially given the huge amount of content.
Of course, I say this based on Morrowind, not Oblivion. I really hope they haven't compromised the PC version to make a better console game, like some games. I hate it when I buy a PC game only to find out it was meant to be played with a controller, has save points instead of free saves, and obviously skimped on content or complex controls in order to be a viable console game.
I also think it's interesting that the phrase is "science and the useful arts"... That would seem to me to imply inventions, research, and pragmatic problem solutions, not "non-useful" arts like music, literature, or visual arts.
What sort of history lies in including those works for consideration?
But all of this is okay, because philosophy is not trying to be practical, nor is the criteria of practicality appropriate to it.
Unless you're a pragmatist!
I also have a philosophy degree. I recommend it for everyone. Like academic study in any field, the subject matter of what you learn is not the most important part - the important part is the modes of thought you go through while learning. It's about learning how to ask interesting questions, and how to explore potential answers. It's about learning what important thoughts have shaped the history of human experience, and how those thoughts have lead us to a deeper understanding of the world. It's also about learning how to examine ideas critically and discuss them in a meaningful way - it's no coincidence that philosophy is a good field of study for those wanting to be lawyers.
I think the world would be a better place if everyone in it studied philosophy at one point or another.
They don't?
Yeah, absolutely. When I was poor and in college, I pirated all my games. Once I graduated and got a job (working for a game company!) I started buying games - lots of games, I'm a good customer.
However, my experience as a paying customer is much, much worse than it was as a pirate. I can remember a few games becoming unstable as a result of cracks, or certain files being corrupted from downloaded versions, but nothing as frustrating as trying to deal with copy-protection on legitimately purchased games. Simply having to switch CDs around when I want to play a different game, or watch a movie or something, is really frustrating. So much so that I no-cd every game I buy now. I still pay for them, but in order to get a good experience I have to break the law. (I think no-cd on something you own breaks the DMCA, right?)
But I'm partially responsible for this, just like most gamers are. Tycho of Penny Arcade recently related how he had been unable to get a DVD game working on his machine due to copy protection. He wanted to return the game, get his money back, fight the system... but he also wanted to play the game, so he exchanged it for the CD version, instead. And I do the same thing - instead of complaining when copy protection ruins my gaming experience, I quietly crack it and continue on. The maker gets my money and doesn't hear the screams of frustration.
Although, since you can't return PC games anyway, there's not much of a financial protest I could make - not buy further games from that publisher, I suppose, but that's like punishing a dog for climbing on the sofa last week - if there's a disconnect between action and discipline, the lesson is not learned.
China, Korea and Malaysia happened. They just couldn't compete with electonics dumping from Samsung, Goldstar, LG, APEX ... etc.
Not to mention Sorny, Magnetbox, and Panaphonic.
I think you're going to need a bigger controller.
(Of course they won't be pulling that in 8 hours/day, but even 1 hour/day gives them 75% more than the programmer, plus potentially a boat-load of free time)
On the other hand, they have to wear those wigs. So maybe it all balances out.
In the USA, the only online activity that'll really put you behind bars is one you deserve it for: child porn
This isn't true. Putting aside all the obvious things like credit card fraud, hacking, conspiracy to assassinate public figures, and so forth, the US justice department has recently started arresting people for running regular old porn sites. And surprisingly, text-only porn sites! (The written word has historically enjoyed greater protection than other forms of media...)
So you bring up the spectre of Iran or China having a say. Well, the US is not likely to censor pro-democracy protesters right now, but remember that we're allied with some pretty extreme views in lines of things like safe sex in AIDS-stricken countries.
In addition, you fail to see the *other* side of the coin: for every Iran, there's a Nederlands that would get a say in things. In fact, given the current consenting-adults porn crackdown, I'd say there are more countries who support greater freedom of speech than the US in the UN than there are oppressive countries.
Yeah, I remember Jon Katz.
I never thought he was too bad - I mean, he was a little pompous and self-important, and his writing was overblown, but his ideas and the discussions they provoked were interesting.
If Columbine happened today, I don't doubt that bloggers would dissect it from every angle, and talk about the point of view of the perpetrators, and lots of geeks who had a hard time in high school would speak their minds.
But at the time, there was really no place like that (at least, that I knew about) - it was really refreshing to hear from a geek's point of view, and talk about the alienation many of us experienced in public schools, and the frustration at the system that perpetuated that treatment. I was really glad Jon Katz was there to be willing to take up that banner, and Slashdot was willing to give the geek perspective on things.
I think it would be great if we saw more original writing like that - takes on world events from a geek perspective.
Miyamoto has already announced that Linux will ship pre-installed on every PS3 hard drive, just attach a USB keyboard and mouse.
Miyamoto is the lead game designer for Nintendo. He has nothing to do with console hardware, especially not the PS3.
The head of Sony Computer Entertainment is Ken Kutaragi.
I picked up Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright a week ago.
I haven't even played Phoenix Wright yet because Trauma Center is so great! It really feels like you're performing surgery, the level of tension is really well done. You feel like you have to do everything quickly and well, and weird things keep happening to throw you off.
It's very linear, and they tell you every procedure to use, so you don't have to use any actual creativity, but it's still a lot of fun.
The game really shows what the stylus is good for, though - the game wouldn't be the same without it. It really gives me hope for the Revolution games.