I've used AbiWord for quite a while now, and to met it's like an open-source Word for Windows 2. It runs on a 486, it's straightforward, and it's got all the features most people need. It was the next version, Word 6, that started getting bloated and feature-heavy. Once the OS X version gets a little more usable, I'll try dumping Word 2004.
If most of the updates will be available for current versions of Windows, what is the incentive to upgrade?
What was the incentive to upgrade from Windows 2000 to XP*. Let's see, we had:
- Rearranged control panel
- A new theme
- Ummm...the search puppy?
The die-hard fans will upgrade because it's the latest and greatest, everyone else will get it with their next computer, and the corporate world will wait 3 years and then take the plunge.
This is still a blow to Microsoft, but not a major one. Maybe another baby step away from the OS monoculture.
*I know there was more incentive to upgrade from Windows ME, but I'm sure many a 2000 user switched over as well.
Frankly, without DRM authors will be doomed, and with DRM people will be doomed since multinationals will seek to lisence everything. I can't really see any middleground right now. People really can't make money selling intangible objects like data because once data is created it can be copied at nearly no cost. They can make money at selling tangible objects, like paperbacks, however.
But it's been shown time and time again that the DRM is just big media's security blanket. CSS, FairPlay and Adobe's eBook DRM have all been cracked. Sure there's some technical knowledge required, but it only takes one person to share it on Kazaa before it's everywhere. Does this mean big media (the greedy middlemen, in most cases) is doomed? Possibly.
But that doesn't necessarily mean artists are left out in the cold. I know it might be hard to remember in the iTunes age, but I remember the first online music store worth giving a crap about was eMusic, because it was the only major player without major DRM restrictions (and it actually had none, since it used MP3s). We don't hear much about eMusic anymore, but the fact that it's still around says something: there's money to be made selling unprotected content. Maybe the multi-millionaire musicians are in danger, but as a whole I think artists might just come out on top by replacing the recording industry with an indie label and an online music store.
Now these books will appear on every god damn P2P network out there.
For those too lazy to RTFA:
None of the books has any kind of copy protection, though Adobe's PDF format contains various digital-rights management mechanisms. "It's not worth doing it all, because it just causes problems," Engst said.
...Engst asks his customers to treat the books as they would physical books: Feel free to share with a couple of friends, but don't post them on the Net. Engst has been aware of no abuse, and none of the books has shown up on file-sharing networks.
Now admittedly I download now and then, but in this instance we've got a content producer that is:
- Small and independent
- Compensating writers fairly
- Charging a very reasonable price
- Choosing not to use DRM, despite having the option to do so, and even *gasp* encouraging people to share with their friends.
I have nothing but contempt for someone that would violate the copyright on this. After all, isn't this the direction the Slashthink wants the music industry to take?
Re:basic... very basic.
on
You've Got PC
·
· Score: 1
1 x full year of any cheapo dialup ISP, but probably better than AOL: $180
Or you could just support your friendly neighbourhood freenet. If it's anything like mine you can give any donation you can afford.
All and all it felt a bit like overkill, but considering that the statue is probably one of the most important symbols of America, it makes sense to so heavily gaurd it.
I live a few blocks away from Canada'sParliament Hill and walked over at about midnight for a walk last night. I didn't see a single person for the first ten minutes. There was one area that had a few RCMP cars (probably their dispatch), but other than that there was virtually no security. I was literally within 10 feet of Centre Block's front door without being bothered in the slightest.
Now certainly Americans have a lot more cause to be cautious, but there's also an attitude here that excessive worry and planning for the worst just give you wrinkles.
Then again, if Canada were attacked we might feel differently.
Is there some DRM or something on Mac hardware that prevents people from illegally copying OSX on the mac platform?
Actually there's none, not even a product key. Basically if you have to jump through a bunch of hoops it doesn't "just work". You can get Panther from Suprnova easily enough, but as many have already posted, Apple isn't trying to turn a big profit from OS sales. I think Apple's pro apps have some kind of copy protection, but those are big budget items.
"Yeah, like the iBook, with 256MB of ram for the entry level, that comes with two 128MB memory modules, one of which sodered to the MainBoard.... If you one day decide to upgrade, even if you do it through Apple, you end up throwing away at least one 128MB memory module that nobody will want to buy from you...."
Actually, that's no longer the case: "Memory: 256MB of PC2100 (266MHz) DDR SDRAM (256MB built-in and one available SO-DIMM slot) with support for up to 1.25GB"
Actually, Puretracks (note: won't work unless you're on Windows IE, or change your User Agent) sells tracks for $0.99 CAD. If there's anything the recording industry has taught us, price is all about charging as much as they can get away with. Because 99 cents comes right before the one dollar psychological barrier, they'll likely sell a lot better than if they were over a buck.
Plus, remember that the legality of file sharing is very much in limbo here, so Canadians can be a little more fearless about downloading for free.
There are rumours that Apple may launch iTMS Canada at the same time. I guess that'd allow them to retain the element of surprise!
Anyhoo, I've got my fingers crossed. Hopefully songs will run 99 cents CAD.
Aside from the woman-repelling aesthetic, I wonder how much longer over-the-air TV will even be available. It seems like it's on the way out, with cell phones slowing creeping into its airspace.
Without broadcast TV, gadgets like this would be useless, and perhaps replaced by those same next-gen cell phones (with an expensive TV subscription plan of course).
This isn't entirely a surprise. Everybody's seen sales slump. Sony, as the article says, will be focusing on the mobile phone market.
I recently ditched my Palm IIIxe for a Sony Ericsson T616. It isn't technically a "smartphone", but it still has a calendar, to do list, phone book (of course). And it syncs perfectly with iSync over bluetooth.
If you want to see the real future of Sony PDAs, look here.
X11 for Mac OS X offers a complete X Window System implementation for running X11-based applications on Mac OS X. Based on the de facto-standard for X11, the open source XFree86 project, X11 for Mac OS X is compatible, fast and fully integrated with Mac OS X. It includes the full X11R6.6 technology including a window server, libraries and basic utilities such as xterm. Source
Panther was released before this whole mess went down though. Perhaps things will change for Tiger's release.
Sony could be a dominant technology and media company. They own record labels, movie studios, and make what could otherwise be decent computers and electronics equipment. They could tie all this stuff together in an incredibly elegant package. I'm thinking something along the lines of Apple times 10. But, they insist on using proprietary hardware and software.
Not sure if you've seen this before, but check out The Civil War Inside Sony. It's a fascinating look at how the interests of Sony the electronics company are in conflict with those of Sony the media giant.
In essence, the electronics division knows they're losing ground because of their emphasis on DRM and proprietary solutions, but their hands are tied.
n an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sony Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei said it would use Cell to power its next-generation game console as well as a network television that will offer functions similar to a personal computer.
What personal computer functions, other than gaming, and perhaps IM, would function well in a living room environment? Remember when Gateway tried to pull something like this way back, with the 32" computer monitor with TV tuner for the living room? Remember WebTV?
Computers and TVs serve different functions, and I fail to see what possible advantages throwing a "high powered" processor in the TV could provide, unless it's essentially going to be a built-in PS3 with PVR capabilities. Classic computing functions like web surfing and word processing are ill-suited for the big screen.
Cell ringtones were way overpriced anyways. You're basically paying a buck for some bleeps and bloops someone hammered on a midi-keyboard in ten minutes.
Some people already own the music, or can buy the actual song for the same price. Why pay twice?
Due to its size and battery drain, it's not particularly good for using on a plane, or at a conference, or really anywhere you don't have a table to set it on and a nearby outlet. But really, the difference between 5lbs and 10lbs isn't going to make the difference in portability.
Well obviously it does, because my 5-pounder is great for travelling. That doesn't make it "better", it's just a portability-vs-performance tradeoff.
In comparison to what the Windows/Litestep/WindowBlinds communities have been putting out for a while now, these submissions are pretty unimpressive.
These are just mockups by people who don't even know how to make themes. Part of the prize for winning is having a professional themer make it a reality. Look here for some real themes.
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I've used AbiWord for quite a while now, and to met it's like an open-source Word for Windows 2. It runs on a 486, it's straightforward, and it's got all the features most people need. It was the next version, Word 6, that started getting bloated and feature-heavy. Once the OS X version gets a little more usable, I'll try dumping Word 2004.
What was the incentive to upgrade from Windows 2000 to XP*. Let's see, we had:
- Rearranged control panel
- A new theme
- Ummm...the search puppy?
The die-hard fans will upgrade because it's the latest and greatest, everyone else will get it with their next computer, and the corporate world will wait 3 years and then take the plunge.
This is still a blow to Microsoft, but not a major one. Maybe another baby step away from the OS monoculture.
*I know there was more incentive to upgrade from Windows ME, but I'm sure many a 2000 user switched over as well.
But it's been shown time and time again that the DRM is just big media's security blanket. CSS, FairPlay and Adobe's eBook DRM have all been cracked. Sure there's some technical knowledge required, but it only takes one person to share it on Kazaa before it's everywhere. Does this mean big media (the greedy middlemen, in most cases) is doomed? Possibly.
But that doesn't necessarily mean artists are left out in the cold. I know it might be hard to remember in the iTunes age, but I remember the first online music store worth giving a crap about was eMusic, because it was the only major player without major DRM restrictions (and it actually had none, since it used MP3s). We don't hear much about eMusic anymore, but the fact that it's still around says something: there's money to be made selling unprotected content. Maybe the multi-millionaire musicians are in danger, but as a whole I think artists might just come out on top by replacing the recording industry with an indie label and an online music store.
For those too lazy to RTFA: None of the books has any kind of copy protection, though Adobe's PDF format contains various digital-rights management mechanisms. "It's not worth doing it all, because it just causes problems," Engst said.
...Engst asks his customers to treat the books as they would physical books: Feel free to share with a couple of friends, but don't post them on the Net. Engst has been aware of no abuse, and none of the books has shown up on file-sharing networks.
Now admittedly I download now and then, but in this instance we've got a content producer that is:
- Small and independent
- Compensating writers fairly
- Charging a very reasonable price
- Choosing not to use DRM, despite having the option to do so, and even *gasp* encouraging people to share with their friends.
I have nothing but contempt for someone that would violate the copyright on this. After all, isn't this the direction the Slashthink wants the music industry to take?
Or you could just support your friendly neighbourhood freenet. If it's anything like mine you can give any donation you can afford.
I live a few blocks away from Canada'sParliament Hill and walked over at about midnight for a walk last night. I didn't see a single person for the first ten minutes. There was one area that had a few RCMP cars (probably their dispatch), but other than that there was virtually no security. I was literally within 10 feet of Centre Block's front door without being bothered in the slightest.
Now certainly Americans have a lot more cause to be cautious, but there's also an attitude here that excessive worry and planning for the worst just give you wrinkles.
Then again, if Canada were attacked we might feel differently.
Since Sun uses OF as well, I wonder if the same card could be used for Macs and Sun workstations.
When all the sysadmins start jumping out of windows, you'll understand.
As for a better screen, if you're talking about the 12" models, I doubt there's any difference.
Actually there's none, not even a product key. Basically if you have to jump through a bunch of hoops it doesn't "just work". You can get Panther from Suprnova easily enough, but as many have already posted, Apple isn't trying to turn a big profit from OS sales. I think Apple's pro apps have some kind of copy protection, but those are big budget items.
Actually, that's no longer the case: "Memory: 256MB of PC2100 (266MHz) DDR SDRAM (256MB built-in and one available SO-DIMM slot) with support for up to 1.25GB"
Source
Plus, remember that the legality of file sharing is very much in limbo here, so Canadians can be a little more fearless about downloading for free.
There are rumours that Apple may launch iTMS Canada at the same time. I guess that'd allow them to retain the element of surprise! Anyhoo, I've got my fingers crossed. Hopefully songs will run 99 cents CAD.
And it gets worse. Notice the new "healthy" option for kids? Apple slices with caramel dip. I bet it's great with their deep-fried salad!
Without broadcast TV, gadgets like this would be useless, and perhaps replaced by those same next-gen cell phones (with an expensive TV subscription plan of course).
I recently ditched my Palm IIIxe for a Sony Ericsson T616. It isn't technically a "smartphone", but it still has a calendar, to do list, phone book (of course). And it syncs perfectly with iSync over bluetooth.
If you want to see the real future of Sony PDAs, look here.
Panther was released before this whole mess went down though. Perhaps things will change for Tiger's release.
I haven't seen the ads, but, ironically enough, MSN TV is the successor to WebTV. Microsoft bought them out some years ago.
Not sure if you've seen this before, but check out The Civil War Inside Sony. It's a fascinating look at how the interests of Sony the electronics company are in conflict with those of Sony the media giant.
In essence, the electronics division knows they're losing ground because of their emphasis on DRM and proprietary solutions, but their hands are tied.
What personal computer functions, other than gaming, and perhaps IM, would function well in a living room environment? Remember when Gateway tried to pull something like this way back, with the 32" computer monitor with TV tuner for the living room? Remember WebTV?
Computers and TVs serve different functions, and I fail to see what possible advantages throwing a "high powered" processor in the TV could provide, unless it's essentially going to be a built-in PS3 with PVR capabilities. Classic computing functions like web surfing and word processing are ill-suited for the big screen.
Some people already own the music, or can buy the actual song for the same price. Why pay twice?
I hope they removed the "wipe my home directory" feature.
Well obviously it does, because my 5-pounder is great for travelling. That doesn't make it "better", it's just a portability-vs-performance tradeoff.
These are just mockups by people who don't even know how to make themes. Part of the prize for winning is having a professional themer make it a reality. Look here for some real themes.
--Adam
Isn't that what fat binaries are for?