Damn, I'm pissed off. Like the rest of you, I was looking for a small capacity, affordable iPod. Instead, we get the iPod mini -- similarly priced to the 15 GB and with the same shitty built-in battery. Yes, people will buy it, since it seems like people have got money burning holes in their pockets, and have a huge need to have 2 weeks worth of continuous music with them at all times (despite that the battery craps out after 5 to 8 hours).
Guess I'll keep using my $150 minidisc player that gets 40 hours of play time from one AA battery. Oh well.
Just as every cassette left in a car for a fortnight is destined to turn into a 'Best Of Queen' album, every discussion of digital music on Slashdot must eventually become a polemic re: Ogg Vorbis.
How about failed OS ventures. Pink, Taligent, Be, NeXT, OS/2, etc.
OS/2 was hardly a failure in the way that the article means "failure," i.e. not just a product that was "simply bad" but one that is "truly awful."
OS/2 was actually very nice. Certainly, it never gained any significant mainstream success (compared to Windows 95 at the time) by many people used it and loved it. I stopped following OS/2's progress a while ago -- but I think it may even still be available from a third-party developer.
NeXTStep lives on in parts of OS X & its developer tools.
However, it has been obvious enough for the past few years that Microsoft, Intel, Dell et al. are pushing to reformulate the PC to become a "home appliance." Many consumers look forward to this eventuality, as the appliance-computer will focus on ease-of-use. However, these consumers are being hoodwinked. What they don't understand is that the increasing ease-of-use will be bought at the cost of their freedom.
Technological development often follows this pattern. As technologies become mainstream, they are often constrained and stifled. Their possible uses are severely limited not only to suit the "lowest common denominator" of user, but also to reflect the interests of big business and the bureaucracy.
You can browse XM's stations and listen to them on their web page (if you have Windows Media Player). After having glanced at their offerings, I think you may be out of luck as far as old school punk is concerned.
I used to work in a small office. As a consequence of the work we did, we had to send out a specifications sheet several times a week. Now, every single time either my boss, her assistant, or the receptionist tried to fax this document they'd always screw it up. No matter how many times I showed them, they'd always screw it up. Eventually I got so pissed at having to stop my work to help them with the fax machine, I decided to save our specs to a PDF which thereafter they could email. Things proceeded a lot more smoothly after that. (Except when we updated our specs, but the receptionist kept sending out the old file for weeks... God, I hated that job.)
I like Japan. It rocks. The food's good, people are respectful of each other, and you can buy beer in vending machines. However, I feel compelled to tell you all that I hate anime. Lots of Japanese people hate it as well. (Similarly, many Americans hate Hollywood films, network television, etc.)
I feel that American anime fanboys like anime mostly because it is different. To be a fan of anime makes them feel special (because ordinary American people are not very familiar with anime apart from Pokemon et al.)
Lastly, what I hate even more than anime are anime-themed RPGs. Thank you for letting me vent. No offense intended.
I agree with the majority of posters: The Da Vinci Code sucks. At its core, it's a trite, predictable murder mystery -- though some easily-impressed readers seem dazzled by the author's very superficial use religious/mystical imagery.
For the real thing, you want to check out Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose (the book, not the film).
Avoid hundreds of hours of "tedious" game play. Cut to the chase and buy a Jedi character on eBay. They'll be available sooner or later. Or you could just not play the game, I guess.
So.. what do you think the tiny hard drive in the iPod is?
I know that it's smaller than a laptop drive, but if it draws so much power as to necessitate expensive, specialty batteries, then I don't think it can properly be considered embedded-class. (I.e. embedded doesn't just mean "smaller"). However, it may simply be the case that the design needs to be refined over several products generations.
in all fairness, your minidisc player a) doesn't power a harddrive, flash memory, an LCD, backlight, and the electronics that go with it.
My Mindisc player does have flash memory (skip protection), does have an LCD screen, and does use a backlight. Although I see your point about the hard drive versus the optical medium, I wonder if a more efficient specialty hard drive couldn't be designed for embedded applications.
n Apple would sue you under the DMCA for reverse engineering their battery.
Dunno if you're trying to be funny, but IIRC the DMCA can only be used to sue someone who reverse engineers for the purpose of circumventing copyright protection mechanisms (not batteries, generally).
Also: someone's already making a 3rd party replacement battery for iPods.
The iPod's battery is one of the main reasons I've held off on buying one. I refuse to buy a portable music device that doesn't take AA or AAA batteries, since I need to be able to swap in a fresh battery while on the go. (Of course, my Minidisc player gets 40 hours of play time from a single AA battery, and it's not often that I go that long between recharging...)
Also, as noted, when AA rechargeables begin to crap out, they are cheaply and easily replaced.
Of course, it may be the case that the iPod draws too much power to subsist on AA's. To this I say: if Sony can design their Minidisc players to use AA's, and Apple cannot do the same for iPods, then Apple ought to hire some better engineers.
This patch apparently intercepts the badly-formated URL and then forwards you to patch maker's website.
It would be more efficient, safer, and simpler (no need to do any patching) to implement a similar solution using a proxy like Privoxy. The proxy (installed on your local machine or LAN) would then be used to intercept the badly-formated URL, and replace it with its own locally generated warning page (again, similar to Privoxy).
I think Privoxy is OSS. Maybe someone could whip something up.
The temperature around here will go down to -30 centigrade during the winter. This being the case, can I achieve significant performance gains by putting my PC outside? I can access it over my 802.11b network. How fast do you think I can overclock my 1.0 GHz Celeron at these temperatures?
Before you all get excited about this, note that this is not a win for OSS -- not really. Notice that no legality was established. Roland simply gave up because they have not been able to find their documentation establishing copyright.
What the music services need to do now is provide a web based interface to their music library.
I see what you're saying, sort of. However, you'd need to install the iTunes program anyway, since you need iTunes to be able to use the encrypted AAC file.
Except is this related to the game, or to the medium in which it is played?
Interesting point. However, anti-social behavior does vary perceptibly from game to game (some online games attract few assholes, others attract many). So it mustn't be the medium per se.
Good example with IRC though. I can't believe the stuff that goes one there sometimes.
It is impossible to say whether or not video games promote violent behavior. I do not believe that they do, but I have no evidence to support this believe.
In any case, what we *can* say with certainty is that a kind of aggressive/macho/anti-social culture does develop around certain online games. You have only to play these games to notice the angry, sociopathic tendencies of many of their participants (e.g. the rampant cheating, trash talking, causing other nuisances, etc.).
Whether or not the game itself (CS) promotes this kind of behavior is certainly an unresolved question. At the very least, I think we can agree (as another poster pointed out) that certain games attract an element of player who is already disposed toward bad behavior. I do my best to avoid these games.
SETI actually brings up a very interesting issue. So let's say they do find an alien civilization, would SETI get to copyright and patent the material that they gleen from the alien civilization?
Are you joking, I can't tell. If SETI finds conclusive proof of the existence of alien intelligence, I think the last thing on most of our minds will be copyright law.
I mean, it's like asking if Jesus comes back will he prefer Linux or BSD. The significance of the event so far outweighs the debate that the debate is rendered meaningless.
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Damn, I'm pissed off. Like the rest of you, I was looking for a small capacity, affordable iPod. Instead, we get the iPod mini -- similarly priced to the 15 GB and with the same shitty built-in battery. Yes, people will buy it, since it seems like people have got money burning holes in their pockets, and have a huge need to have 2 weeks worth of continuous music with them at all times (despite that the battery craps out after 5 to 8 hours).
Guess I'll keep using my $150 minidisc player that gets 40 hours of play time from one AA battery. Oh well.
Just as every cassette left in a car for a fortnight is destined to turn into a 'Best Of Queen' album, every discussion of digital music on Slashdot must eventually become a polemic re: Ogg Vorbis.
There were some "hidden" accounts in Linux too, ...
You mean like nobody, cdrom, ppp, etc.?
IIRC, in Slackware releases 3.2 and earlier, three users (satan, gonzo, and snake) were automatically configured without passwords.
How about failed OS ventures. Pink, Taligent, Be, NeXT, OS/2, etc.
OS/2 was hardly a failure in the way that the article means "failure," i.e. not just a product that was "simply bad" but one that is "truly awful."
OS/2 was actually very nice. Certainly, it never gained any significant mainstream success (compared to Windows 95 at the time) by many people used it and loved it. I stopped following OS/2's progress a while ago -- but I think it may even still be available from a third-party developer.
NeXTStep lives on in parts of OS X & its developer tools.
No, not really.
Probably the completion of the human genome mapping.
I use a mac, you insensitive clod!
However, it has been obvious enough for the past few years that Microsoft, Intel, Dell et al. are pushing to reformulate the PC to become a "home appliance." Many consumers look forward to this eventuality, as the appliance-computer will focus on ease-of-use. However, these consumers are being hoodwinked. What they don't understand is that the increasing ease-of-use will be bought at the cost of their freedom.
Technological development often follows this pattern. As technologies become mainstream, they are often constrained and stifled. Their possible uses are severely limited not only to suit the "lowest common denominator" of user, but also to reflect the interests of big business and the bureaucracy.
For more on this, see Ursula Franklin's work which is incredibly insightful.
What about 1977 style punk and hardcore punk?
You can browse XM's stations and listen to them on their web page (if you have Windows Media Player). After having glanced at their offerings, I think you may be out of luck as far as old school punk is concerned.
I used to work in a small office. As a consequence of the work we did, we had to send out a specifications sheet several times a week. Now, every single time either my boss, her assistant, or the receptionist tried to fax this document they'd always screw it up. No matter how many times I showed them, they'd always screw it up. Eventually I got so pissed at having to stop my work to help them with the fax machine, I decided to save our specs to a PDF which thereafter they could email. Things proceeded a lot more smoothly after that. (Except when we updated our specs, but the receptionist kept sending out the old file for weeks... God, I hated that job.)
I like Japan. It rocks. The food's good, people are respectful of each other, and you can buy beer in vending machines. However, I feel compelled to tell you all that I hate anime. Lots of Japanese people hate it as well. (Similarly, many Americans hate Hollywood films, network television, etc.)
I feel that American anime fanboys like anime mostly because it is different. To be a fan of anime makes them feel special (because ordinary American people are not very familiar with anime apart from Pokemon et al.)
Lastly, what I hate even more than anime are anime-themed RPGs. Thank you for letting me vent. No offense intended.
I agree with the majority of posters: The Da Vinci Code sucks. At its core, it's a trite, predictable murder mystery -- though some easily-impressed readers seem dazzled by the author's very superficial use religious/mystical imagery.
For the real thing, you want to check out Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose (the book, not the film).
Avoid hundreds of hours of "tedious" game play. Cut to the chase and buy a Jedi character on eBay. They'll be available sooner or later. Or you could just not play the game, I guess.
So.. what do you think the tiny hard drive in the iPod is?
I know that it's smaller than a laptop drive, but if it draws so much power as to necessitate expensive, specialty batteries, then I don't think it can properly be considered embedded-class. (I.e. embedded doesn't just mean "smaller"). However, it may simply be the case that the design needs to be refined over several products generations.
in all fairness, your minidisc player a) doesn't power a harddrive, flash memory, an LCD, backlight, and the electronics that go with it.
My Mindisc player does have flash memory (skip protection), does have an LCD screen, and does use a backlight. Although I see your point about the hard drive versus the optical medium, I wonder if a more efficient specialty hard drive couldn't be designed for embedded applications.
n Apple would sue you under the DMCA for reverse engineering their battery.
Dunno if you're trying to be funny, but IIRC the DMCA can only be used to sue someone who reverse engineers for the purpose of circumventing copyright protection mechanisms (not batteries, generally).
Also: someone's already making a 3rd party replacement battery for iPods.
The iPod's battery is one of the main reasons I've held off on buying one. I refuse to buy a portable music device that doesn't take AA or AAA batteries, since I need to be able to swap in a fresh battery while on the go. (Of course, my Minidisc player gets 40 hours of play time from a single AA battery, and it's not often that I go that long between recharging...)
Also, as noted, when AA rechargeables begin to crap out, they are cheaply and easily replaced.
Of course, it may be the case that the iPod draws too much power to subsist on AA's. To this I say: if Sony can design their Minidisc players to use AA's, and Apple cannot do the same for iPods, then Apple ought to hire some better engineers.
This patch apparently intercepts the badly-formated URL and then forwards you to patch maker's website.
It would be more efficient, safer, and simpler (no need to do any patching) to implement a similar solution using a proxy like Privoxy. The proxy (installed on your local machine or LAN) would then be used to intercept the badly-formated URL, and replace it with its own locally generated warning page (again, similar to Privoxy).
I think Privoxy is OSS. Maybe someone could whip something up.
Are there any good ones, for PC or otherwise?
People seemed to like GoldenEye for the N64.
The temperature around here will go down to -30 centigrade during the winter. This being the case, can I achieve significant performance gains by putting my PC outside? I can access it over my 802.11b network. How fast do you think I can overclock my 1.0 GHz Celeron at these temperatures?
Before you all get excited about this, note that this is not a win for OSS -- not really. Notice that no legality was established. Roland simply gave up because they have not been able to find their documentation establishing copyright.
(a) Ham Radio
(b) Adults doing LEGO and/or model cars and airplanes
(c) Recumbent bicycles
(d) Miniatures
(e) Astronomy
Normal culture will never assimilate these.
as in, better ability for the CCP to spy on dissidents, throw democrats in jail, and execute them, making the family pay for the bullet?
That's not what this is about, since anyone with half a brain can secure a wireless connection themselves using VPN or connecting by SSH.
If the Chinese want to track dissidents, they can do so much more easily through old-fashion means like listening devices, moles, etc.
What the music services need to do now is provide a web based interface to their music library.
I see what you're saying, sort of. However, you'd need to install the iTunes program anyway, since you need iTunes to be able to use the encrypted AAC file.
Except is this related to the game, or to the medium in which it is played?
Interesting point. However, anti-social behavior does vary perceptibly from game to game (some online games attract few assholes, others attract many). So it mustn't be the medium per se.
Good example with IRC though. I can't believe the stuff that goes one there sometimes.
It is impossible to say whether or not video games promote violent behavior. I do not believe that they do, but I have no evidence to support this believe.
In any case, what we *can* say with certainty is that a kind of aggressive/macho/anti-social culture does develop around certain online games. You have only to play these games to notice the angry, sociopathic tendencies of many of their participants (e.g. the rampant cheating, trash talking, causing other nuisances, etc.).
Whether or not the game itself (CS) promotes this kind of behavior is certainly an unresolved question. At the very least, I think we can agree (as another poster pointed out) that certain games attract an element of player who is already disposed toward bad behavior. I do my best to avoid these games.
SETI actually brings up a very interesting issue. So let's say they do find an alien civilization, would SETI get to copyright and patent the material that they gleen from the alien civilization?
Are you joking, I can't tell. If SETI finds conclusive proof of the existence of alien intelligence, I think the last thing on most of our minds will be copyright law.
I mean, it's like asking if Jesus comes back will he prefer Linux or BSD. The significance of the event so far outweighs the debate that the debate is rendered meaningless.