My bets? Xbox goes the way the Jaguar went. It will die, but at least have better numbers than ATARI was possible of. '
Of the XBox failes (not likely) it will be more of type of failure the Dreamcast had. A big buzz at release and a quick fade with a remaining and steady fanbase.
It isn't even SANE to think the Xbox will fail in any way similar to the Jaguar.
The Jaguar wasn't even truely 64 bit, had a horrid selection of first and third party games, had hardware that was very similar to the already ancient SNES, and had a price-tag in the area getting close to the vastly superior NeoGeo.
No games. Crappy Hardware. No fanbase. High Price. Atari's 64 Bit Gagwire. Do the math.
The XBox may not dominate. If any one of the three dominate, it will probably be the Playstation 2 simply because it's already situated well in the market. But I doubt even the PSY will dominate any more than the XBox will fail.
Me personally, I'm investing more into building up a Gamecube game library, then buying Xbox and PSX/Y titles on a see-them-as-they-come basis. Well, really, I do that with every system, but I already have a larger list of "I-gotta-get-it" titles for the Gamecube -- and none of THOSE are even out yet.
it'd be neat if people took pictures from different parts of the world of the showers and maybe/. could put them together in a sort of gallery, listing the times of each and the various locations.. or even someone that just reads/.
Astronomers should be doing that. It's nights like tonight that they better be standing out there in the cold, freezing thier nuts (or tits) off and getting some good pictures.
It's time they pull their own weight and do something useful for the rest of society.:-)
With Airplanes dumping powder on people's houses the proof is there that they don't need smallpox or Anthrax. Many pesticides and other common poisons could be easily as deadly.
What's worse is that this shit is going on and the media isn't noticing. Mostly to prevent panic, I'm sure, but it's pretty bad when someone lives less than 5 miles where something like this happens, and NO INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE!
If Small Pox were to break out -- unless it gets into the public eye before big-brother can step in -- don't worry, you won't ever know about it.
Given the current terrorism scares, and the recent trouble people have been into over mailing something as harmless as powdered sugar, I don't think mailing jars of urine is such a good idea.
Who wants to place bets on how long it will be until someone hacks a way to play X-BOX games on your PC? (And who wants to bet that they'll run better on a non-staticly configured home system with the latest and greatest hardware?)
As long as one part of the equation is static, you are probably right.
Get this --
All XBox systems will be identical. So, all games will be written to run on an Xbox. Now, we know that games for the Xbox will require at least a Pentium III 733, a GeForce 3, blah blah blah.
Now, if we wanted to make a system that could play Xbox games, we would need to have at least those specs of course. Seeing as how the XBox uses DirectX, and a Windows 2000 type OS (Stripped down to be lightweight) it would probably be easy to put together a system based on a standard high-end PC using Windows 2000 or XP that lied to DirectX and pretended to be an XBox.
As long as the "Liar" software, or Emulator if you will, lied well enough to LOOK to the software to actually BE an Xbox, everything should be fine.
After all, the Xbox software KNOWS the one type of system it will be running on, right? That type and that one type alone?
Everything will be good and perfect as long as a whole slew of mis-matched hardware types don't start popping up in various models of the XBox and various systems aren't trying to emulate such machines. It's then that the software will start to have a real piss-fit.
This will be so disheartening to a vast number of artists when the biofeedback tells the DJ what the clubbers REALLY think of some of the music being played today.
Suddenly tunes that lack any structures of sound such as beat, melody, rhythm or harmony are going to be proven once and for all to be the crap that they are. And poorly written lyrics that aren't in tune, in synch, or lack rhythm AND rhyme are going to throw the music straight out.
In the end the dancers are going to learn that most of the music they THOUGHT they like, their bodies really don't, and the DJ is going to be left with nothing left to play.
Finally we won't have to listen to Destiny's Child anymore.
So if your PS2 breaks, you have to buy a new game?
Well, that's the current argument against it that Sony is tossing around in their heads-- but then they figure most people won't really mind, since Sony has a really high level of quality control and NOBODY ever went through 2 or 3 of the original Playstations.
Right?
*sigh*
The reason it looks like there are more thn 30 million Playstation owners is because a good portion of those Playstations are sitting in a landfill.
Actually -- there are bullets designed for use in Airplane cabins. They shatter upon impact and can kill a human easily enough, but they won't cause damage to the Airplane except for possible bloodstains or bullet holes in the seats.
They're an excellent idea and this crap fear of guns that the media has given to us all only aids the terrorists, and makes us too scared to defend ourselves.
(can you say: Middle management, and other un-fun things when you get old?).
Of course he can. And for a good reason. THAT is exactly what THEY want him to say.
School is about brainwashing. They weed out those who aren't easily controlled and then try to tell them that they "can't acheive anything" because they aren't "well rounded" or "well educated." They make school seem like earning a license to progress in life, which only shows that THEY have gone further towards controlling everyone than most people would like to admit.
When I'm done with my degree, I fully intend to let those who most value it most know that it's not worth a shit. As it is now, I keep myself amused with a bit of reverse programming.
It works like this -- everytime one of THEM tries to remind me how important college is, I tell them that if/when the system falls, the degree won't matter one bit. It's an artificially created need used to help weed out those THEY don't want helping control the rest of US. I tell them that I'm hardly even a "student" anymore, and that I, much like my "student" peers, have become nothing more than slave to THEM. Of course, if I can't make it through college then THEY don't want me as I'm no use to them. Obviously without greed, a lack of ethics, and a empty and selfless identity, I'm not middle management material. Off to a factory for the rest of my life for me and the others who think for themselves. If they can't make a SLAVE out of us one way, they do it in another.
And the professors aren't special, either. They are hardly people once they step into the system. If they were to die today, another would be squeezed out of a machine, molded, painted, labeled, put on a shelf, purchased, and used to replace the previous model.
It's a system created to help further refine the reflexes of the machine, and we want so much to become part of this machine that we're willing to go through years of testing just to make sure we've got what it takes to hand over our lives to those who wish to control it.
There won't be anything fun about getting my comp-sci degree. It's a lot of crap and I refuse to do the ass-kissing that my peers do. I can see my future looking pretty grim.
Fortunately, my degree matters much less to me than some degrees matter to other people. The only true way to be free is to work for one's self and in the end that is what I will certainly be doing. The degree? Well -- I suppose I'm only getting it to prove to everyone that I don't hate the system because I can't play by it's rules. I hate the system, because it truely is bullshit.
Incidently - I don't dislike the idea of education as a whole. In fact, I love books, I love reading, I love knowledge, and I really love that feeling of having one's mind expanded either by a really enlightening conversation with someone (a professor or fellow student) or by trying to explain something to someone else and in doing so learning something yourself. Unfortunately that is not what college is about.
$CONTROL
If you don't agree, then they have control of you already.
I would like to point out that my Dell Inspiron 5000e has two battery bays, one of which doubles as a DVD-ROM drive if I swap the battery for the drive. But it came with something else.
It came with a plastic cover that is hollow, the size of a drive/battery, and fits into either of the bays to "keep the weight down."
It would not be difficult at all to outfit that compartment with plastic explosives. I just happen to ALSO be carrying a battery? See where I'm going with this?
Do I think Laptops should be disallowed? Absolutely not. But then, I also believe I should have the right to carry a fully loaded handgun into the show so I can put a hole into someone's head if they pose an immediate threat to me or other innocent people.
Too bad guns are disallowed in WAY TOO MANY places now days.
What I want to know is how is CD-MRW any different than current Packet Writing tools?
For example, Nero comes with a Packet-Writer program, and the Sony Spressa drives all come with AbCD. These utilities allow the CD to be mounted as a large removable media, and used in a simple drag and drop fashion. As far as I know, AbCD and the Nero one (I can't remember it's name -- help -- someone?) aren't compatible so there is of course this whole compatibility issue that CD-MRW does fix up for us, but my question is this:
If packeting writing DOES the same thing for us already -- then what is preventing CURRENT drives from supporting Mount Rainier?
Logically, if the drives can DO Packet Writing in other formats, then it's only a driver issue that prevents them from doing it Mount Rainier format, right? If not, why not?
By the looks of it -- everyone is going to need whole new drives and media, something I'm not too terribly keen on considering that I've been using a Sony Spressa for a while now and I ALREADY HAVE packeting writing.
Lately, I have been pleased to see an increase in 'framing,' 'docking,' 'stacking,' and 'tabbing' being used, starting most conspicuously with frames in the web.
I might be the only one who thinks so, but framing, docking, and stacking annoy me. Tabbing isn't so bad- -certainly no worse than simply having multiple screens (as the Amiga did, and as XWindows does... and apparently, now XP.) Frames are simply straight out.
The fact is -- cascading windows, slamming a window into the corner of the screen, and basically DECIDING FOR ME where a Window should go is the LAST THING I want a desktop doing for me. It's also the biggest reason I absolutely fscking HATE most Unix desktops.
The Mac, Windows, and even ancient old Amiga Workbench were really good about putting Windows where you wanted them (though on the Amiga you had to snapshot them) and not trying to dictate where they belonged for you.
Stacking Windows, Docking them, and dynamically resizing them without the users permission isn't elegant, it isn't convinient, and it's nothing but plain annoying. I don't believe these are features that any GUI even needs to begin with, but if they're going to exist they should be purely optional, with windows "Remembering" their positions and honoring the user's placement.
After all -- if I want 4 of my most recently opened windows in the four opposite corners of my screen, wouldn't I put them there myself?
Under Windows, my ICQ is always in the same spot (the left), my AIM is always in the same spot (the right), and my IE is not full screen and is positioned neatly near the middle of my 1280x960 display (on a 19" monitor). These windows and many others almost never get repositioned. They stay where I put them.
When I'm using my BSD box, and working in KDE -- I easily get rather annoyed that Windows just kind of pop up where they want to with no regards to what I want as a user.
So on the whole -- I can honestly say I don't agree with this as "progress" as the poster seems to see things -- to me I see it as some wise-ass people trying to push the envelope well beyond what is actually needed and changing things just for the sake of change. It is possible to ruin a good thing by trying to fix it when it isn't broken.
I wish people hell bent on GUI design would realize that maybe, just maybe, there really IS nothing wrong with some of the most basic concepts.
The article claims that "The virus only affects PCs that load the disc, not DVD players" so I'm not sure if the DVD auto installs software if loaded on a Win PC, or if infection only happens if the user chooses to install the supplemental software."
Nothing will get installed automatically if you choose to set a system up the way it should be -- I.E. Nothing without the user telling it to do so.
That's one of the biggest dangers (and most easily prevented) of Microsoft operating systems.
In an effort to make systems more automated so Joe-Shitwits can use them, systems have become so powerful they have the power to destroy themselves like the mindless machines they are.
I leave Autoinsert Notification on, but I turn off the ability for disks to autorun software. Thankfully, other operating systems aren't nearly as obnoxious about this as Windows is. (Though, I'm not sure how the Mac handles it...)
With a keyboard, mouse, Hard Drive, and Ethernet/Modem adapter, SONY may have essentially created the next cheap home computer, and they'll be able to push this onto the market as such with the right marketing.
You see- back in the days of the Commodore 64 a computer didn't have to have a completely dedicated setup for people. It was fine to have a computer just plugged into the TV for occassional gaming, BBS, and type-work.
The Playstation 2 can perform all of the modern equvilants of these roles, and it doesn't even REALLY need Linux to do it, but why complain that it uses Linux?
While I honestly DOUBT that Linux is going to be a major part of the Sony Playstation's acceptance as a general purpose low-cost computing device, I honestly do think it's a "Good Thing" for Linux. Think of the number of budding coders that could print their first "Hello World" on this thing? And while Microsoft may own the PC market right now they don't own EVERY market, at least, not yet, and there is room for a whole new level of personal computers. A market that hasn't been filled since the last of the Amiga 500's began to die off.
Dreamcast could've had that market, but they ignored it. XBox could have that Market, but Microsoft won't play their cards right (I don't think). Nintendo doesn't want that market or they would've had it a long time ago.
Sony. Linux. It bothers me, but I can see it happening.
Still, this just doesn't completely jive. I thought that Microsoft was a big propenent of screwing the little guy over for intellectual property rights. Thus, WMA DRM, right?
You might be partially right, but Microsoft does understand the concept of not shitting in your kitchen.
That is to say that Microsoft is comprised of geeks. While they do understand the need for copyright laws (and indeed depend on them) they also see a demand for "Pay On Demand" services that DRM could provide for us (i.e. value added services), I've never seen that Microsoft has gone out of their way to make sure that we get TOTALLY screwed, constantly, and considerably. They themselves, after all, have to use the standards they push out onto the industry. They're not just Microsoft, they're also users.
Everyone assumes that.NET and Leased Software is a Microsoft attempt to screw everyone and everybody but in reality it may not be any better or worse, may not end up costing those it effects that much more, and it may even save them time and money if they normally upgrade often enough. The truth is, most of everything that Microsoft proposes and wants done screws the pirates more than it does anybody else.
The legit users, if they think about it -- have nothing at all to complain about other than the principle it's self. I admit, the principle alone is enough to complain about, but if I had to pick badguys in the the IP battlefield, I could think of much worse enemies than Microsoft.
Microsoft just wants to curb or stop Piracy, possibly illiminate it. DRM wants to create a platform for which people can legally download copyrighted material. I'm not sure how anybody can say that either of these constitute bad things in and of themselves.
That whole monopolistic and anticompetitive thing is a different issue entirely.
I don't think any system can be excessive for a home machine. The more power you have the better, video games, video/audio editing, compiling, etc...
I agree with this, but I didn't mean "excessive" as in "More than Anybody Needs", but rather -- more than enough to perform the tasks requested.
There will always be situations where more is better, but there will also be points where more isn't noticable.
I was simply stating you can get great performance in the 800 to 1 ghz range -- but that doesn't mean Windows multitasks as well as Unix, it simply means our machines are getting so fast we hardly notice anymore.
Slashdot Mirror
My bets? Xbox goes the way the Jaguar went. It will die, but at least have better numbers than ATARI was possible of. '
Of the XBox failes (not likely) it will be more of type of failure the Dreamcast had. A big buzz at release and a quick fade with a remaining and steady fanbase.
It isn't even SANE to think the Xbox will fail in any way similar to the Jaguar.
The Jaguar wasn't even truely 64 bit, had a horrid selection of first and third party games, had hardware that was very similar to the already ancient SNES, and had a price-tag in the area getting close to the vastly superior NeoGeo.
No games. Crappy Hardware. No fanbase. High Price. Atari's 64 Bit Gagwire. Do the math.
The XBox may not dominate. If any one of the three dominate, it will probably be the Playstation 2 simply because it's already situated well in the market. But I doubt even the PSY will dominate any more than the XBox will fail.
Me personally, I'm investing more into building up a Gamecube game library, then buying Xbox and PSX/Y titles on a see-them-as-they-come basis. Well, really, I do that with every system, but I already have a larger list of "I-gotta-get-it" titles for the Gamecube -- and none of THOSE are even out yet.
it'd be neat if people took pictures from different parts of the world of the showers and maybe /. could put them together in a sort of gallery, listing the times of each and the various locations.. or even someone that just reads /.
:-)
Astronomers should be doing that. It's nights like tonight that they better be standing out there in the cold, freezing thier nuts (or tits) off and getting some good pictures.
It's time they pull their own weight and do something useful for the rest of society.
With Airplanes dumping powder on people's houses the proof is there that they don't need smallpox or Anthrax. Many pesticides and other common poisons could be easily as deadly.
What's worse is that this shit is going on and the media isn't noticing. Mostly to prevent panic, I'm sure, but it's pretty bad when someone lives less than 5 miles where something like this happens, and NO INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE!
If Small Pox were to break out -- unless it gets into the public eye before big-brother can step in -- don't worry, you won't ever know about it.
I'm shipping my pee in jars soon!
Given the current terrorism scares, and the recent trouble people have been into over mailing something as harmless as powdered sugar, I don't think mailing jars of urine is such a good idea.
Who wants to place bets on how long it will be until someone hacks a way to play X-BOX games on your PC? (And who wants to bet that they'll run better on a non-staticly configured home system with the latest and greatest hardware?)
As long as one part of the equation is static, you are probably right.
Get this --
All XBox systems will be identical. So, all games will be written to run on an Xbox. Now, we know that games for the Xbox will require at least a Pentium III 733, a GeForce 3, blah blah blah.
Now, if we wanted to make a system that could play Xbox games, we would need to have at least those specs of course. Seeing as how the XBox uses DirectX, and a Windows 2000 type OS (Stripped down to be lightweight) it would probably be easy to put together a system based on a standard high-end PC using Windows 2000 or XP that lied to DirectX and pretended to be an XBox.
As long as the "Liar" software, or Emulator if you will, lied well enough to LOOK to the software to actually BE an Xbox, everything should be fine.
After all, the Xbox software KNOWS the one type of system it will be running on, right? That type and that one type alone?
Everything will be good and perfect as long as a whole slew of mis-matched hardware types don't start popping up in various models of the XBox and various systems aren't trying to emulate such machines. It's then that the software will start to have a real piss-fit.
...explosive laptops, as Processors become more and more difficult to cool, even.
What fun.
This will be so disheartening to a vast number of artists when the biofeedback tells the DJ what the clubbers REALLY think of some of the music being played today.
Suddenly tunes that lack any structures of sound such as beat, melody, rhythm or harmony are going to be proven once and for all to be the crap that they are. And poorly written lyrics that aren't in tune, in synch, or lack rhythm AND rhyme are going to throw the music straight out.
In the end the dancers are going to learn that most of the music they THOUGHT they like, their bodies really don't, and the DJ is going to be left with nothing left to play.
Finally we won't have to listen to Destiny's Child anymore.
...
So if your PS2 breaks, you have to buy a new game?
Well, that's the current argument against it that Sony is tossing around in their heads-- but then they figure most people won't really mind, since Sony has a really high level of quality control and NOBODY ever went through 2 or 3 of the original Playstations.
Right?
*sigh*
The reason it looks like there are more thn 30 million Playstation owners is because a good portion of those Playstations are sitting in a landfill.
Blah --
That's a given. Sony will attempt to do it with the PS2 as they've already attempted to do with Music (they don't like used CD-shops at all).
Wish I had some links to articles -- but --
Sony will be attempting to build some kind of authentication system into some of their games so that invidividual copies only work on a specific PS2.
Microsoft won't be doing anything new here, we can just assume they'll probably do it and almost certainly be more strict about it.
Of course -- as much as that annoys me it won't have much effect on me. I don't sell my games and I normally only buy new ones. Still annoying.
Now if they could only make it thin and nimble enough to fit inside a Real Doll...
Actually -- there are bullets designed for use in Airplane cabins. They shatter upon impact and can kill a human easily enough, but they won't cause damage to the Airplane except for possible bloodstains or bullet holes in the seats.
They're an excellent idea and this crap fear of guns that the media has given to us all only aids the terrorists, and makes us too scared to defend ourselves.
Air Marshalls need guns. Big ones.
(can you say: Middle management, and other un-fun things when you get old?).
Of course he can. And for a good reason. THAT is exactly what THEY want him to say.
School is about brainwashing. They weed out those who aren't easily controlled and then try to tell them that they "can't acheive anything" because they aren't "well rounded" or "well educated." They make school seem like earning a license to progress in life, which only shows that THEY have gone further towards controlling everyone than most people would like to admit.
When I'm done with my degree, I fully intend to let those who most value it most know that it's not worth a shit. As it is now, I keep myself amused with a bit of reverse programming.
It works like this -- everytime one of THEM tries to remind me how important college is, I tell them that if/when the system falls, the degree won't matter one bit. It's an artificially created need used to help weed out those THEY don't want helping control the rest of US. I tell them that I'm hardly even a "student" anymore, and that I, much like my "student" peers, have become nothing more than slave to THEM. Of course, if I can't make it through college then THEY don't want me as I'm no use to them. Obviously without greed, a lack of ethics, and a empty and selfless identity, I'm not middle management material. Off to a factory for the rest of my life for me and the others who think for themselves. If they can't make a SLAVE out of us one way, they do it in another.
And the professors aren't special, either. They are hardly people once they step into the system. If they were to die today, another would be squeezed out of a machine, molded, painted, labeled, put on a shelf, purchased, and used to replace the previous model.
It's a system created to help further refine the reflexes of the machine, and we want so much to become part of this machine that we're willing to go through years of testing just to make sure we've got what it takes to hand over our lives to those who wish to control it.
There won't be anything fun about getting my comp-sci degree. It's a lot of crap and I refuse to do the ass-kissing that my peers do. I can see my future looking pretty grim.
Fortunately, my degree matters much less to me than some degrees matter to other people. The only true way to be free is to work for one's self and in the end that is what I will certainly be doing. The degree? Well -- I suppose I'm only getting it to prove to everyone that I don't hate the system because I can't play by it's rules. I hate the system, because it truely is bullshit.
Incidently - I don't dislike the idea of education as a whole. In fact, I love books, I love reading, I love knowledge, and I really love that feeling of having one's mind expanded either by a really enlightening conversation with someone (a professor or fellow student) or by trying to explain something to someone else and in doing so learning something yourself. Unfortunately that is not what college is about.
$CONTROL
If you don't agree, then they have control of you already.
I would like to point out that my Dell Inspiron 5000e has two battery bays, one of which doubles as a DVD-ROM drive if I swap the battery for the drive. But it came with something else.
It came with a plastic cover that is hollow, the size of a drive/battery, and fits into either of the bays to "keep the weight down."
It would not be difficult at all to outfit that compartment with plastic explosives. I just happen to ALSO be carrying a battery? See where I'm going with this?
Do I think Laptops should be disallowed? Absolutely not. But then, I also believe I should have the right to carry a fully loaded handgun into the show so I can put a hole into someone's head if they pose an immediate threat to me or other innocent people.
Too bad guns are disallowed in WAY TOO MANY places now days.
On the whole Micrsoft Monopoly crap, I think the most insightful thing I've read is this article.
The last paragraph says it all particularly well.
What I want to know is how is CD-MRW any different than current Packet Writing tools?
For example, Nero comes with a Packet-Writer program, and the Sony Spressa drives all come with AbCD. These utilities allow the CD to be mounted as a large removable media, and used in a simple drag and drop fashion. As far as I know, AbCD and the Nero one (I can't remember it's name -- help -- someone?) aren't compatible so there is of course this whole compatibility issue that CD-MRW does fix up for us, but my question is this:
If packeting writing DOES the same thing for us already -- then what is preventing CURRENT drives from supporting Mount Rainier?
Logically, if the drives can DO Packet Writing in other formats, then it's only a driver issue that prevents them from doing it Mount Rainier format, right? If not, why not?
By the looks of it -- everyone is going to need whole new drives and media, something I'm not too terribly keen on considering that I've been using a Sony Spressa for a while now and I ALREADY HAVE packeting writing.
No.
Sorry.
Extensive testing went out of style around the mid 90's.
Oh -- and actually writting REALLY good code, that's been out of style since at LEAST the 80's.
I blame colleges for letting so many graduates think that they are instantly coders.
Real coders are born, not made.
And anybody who got into computers for the money, and not the thrill of writing code -- well -- they're worse than lame. And they probably use AOL.
Lately, I have been pleased to see an increase in 'framing,' 'docking,' 'stacking,' and 'tabbing' being used, starting most conspicuously with frames in the web.
I might be the only one who thinks so, but framing, docking, and stacking annoy me. Tabbing isn't so bad- -certainly no worse than simply having multiple screens (as the Amiga did, and as XWindows does... and apparently, now XP.) Frames are simply straight out.
The fact is -- cascading windows, slamming a window into the corner of the screen, and basically DECIDING FOR ME where a Window should go is the LAST THING I want a desktop doing for me. It's also the biggest reason I absolutely fscking HATE most Unix desktops.
The Mac, Windows, and even ancient old Amiga Workbench were really good about putting Windows where you wanted them (though on the Amiga you had to snapshot them) and not trying to dictate where they belonged for you.
Stacking Windows, Docking them, and dynamically resizing them without the users permission isn't elegant, it isn't convinient, and it's nothing but plain annoying. I don't believe these are features that any GUI even needs to begin with, but if they're going to exist they should be purely optional, with windows "Remembering" their positions and honoring the user's placement.
After all -- if I want 4 of my most recently opened windows in the four opposite corners of my screen, wouldn't I put them there myself?
Under Windows, my ICQ is always in the same spot (the left), my AIM is always in the same spot (the right), and my IE is not full screen and is positioned neatly near the middle of my 1280x960 display (on a 19" monitor). These windows and many others almost never get repositioned. They stay where I put them.
When I'm using my BSD box, and working in KDE -- I easily get rather annoyed that Windows just kind of pop up where they want to with no regards to what I want as a user.
So on the whole -- I can honestly say I don't agree with this as "progress" as the poster seems to see things -- to me I see it as some wise-ass people trying to push the envelope well beyond what is actually needed and changing things just for the sake of change. It is possible to ruin a good thing by trying to fix it when it isn't broken.
I wish people hell bent on GUI design would realize that maybe, just maybe, there really IS nothing wrong with some of the most basic concepts.
The wheel doesn't get any more round, after all.
The article claims that "The virus only affects PCs that load the disc, not DVD players" so I'm not sure if the DVD auto installs software if loaded on a Win PC, or if infection only happens if the user chooses to install the supplemental software."
Nothing will get installed automatically if you choose to set a system up the way it should be -- I.E. Nothing without the user telling it to do so.
That's one of the biggest dangers (and most easily prevented) of Microsoft operating systems.
In an effort to make systems more automated so Joe-Shitwits can use them, systems have become so powerful they have the power to destroy themselves like the mindless machines they are.
I leave Autoinsert Notification on, but I turn off the ability for disks to autorun software. Thankfully, other operating systems aren't nearly as obnoxious about this as Windows is. (Though, I'm not sure how the Mac handles it...)
It's not your imagination... it's just further proof that everything everybody knows is wrong.
Come on guys, if we are going to make a robot, why not make a really cool robot that can pick up chicks?
What the heck are YOU talking about?
They need to make one that LOOKS like a chick! I want a hot and sexy chrome plated busty robo sex slave! Boo Yaa!
If they keep making robots that look like THAT they're never going to make it into the adult toy business!
How can that home robot market ever take off without backing the pr0n industry?
*snicker*
I mean, how many closed WINE forks does the world need?
None. You can't drink Wine with a fork. Duh!
I ain't buying a Linux powered PS2 until they give me the same thing.
They have something close.
It's called C++ for Dummies.
Some are of course questioning WHY?
With a keyboard, mouse, Hard Drive, and Ethernet/Modem adapter, SONY may have essentially created the next cheap home computer, and they'll be able to push this onto the market as such with the right marketing.
You see- back in the days of the Commodore 64 a computer didn't have to have a completely dedicated setup for people. It was fine to have a computer just plugged into the TV for occassional gaming, BBS, and type-work.
The Playstation 2 can perform all of the modern equvilants of these roles, and it doesn't even REALLY need Linux to do it, but why complain that it uses Linux?
While I honestly DOUBT that Linux is going to be a major part of the Sony Playstation's acceptance as a general purpose low-cost computing device, I honestly do think it's a "Good Thing" for Linux. Think of the number of budding coders that could print their first "Hello World" on this thing? And while Microsoft may own the PC market right now they don't own EVERY market, at least, not yet, and there is room for a whole new level of personal computers. A market that hasn't been filled since the last of the Amiga 500's began to die off.
Dreamcast could've had that market, but they ignored it. XBox could have that Market, but Microsoft won't play their cards right (I don't think). Nintendo doesn't want that market or they would've had it a long time ago.
Sony. Linux. It bothers me, but I can see it happening.
Still, this just doesn't completely jive. I thought that Microsoft was a big propenent of screwing the little guy over for intellectual property rights. Thus, WMA DRM, right?
.NET and Leased Software is a Microsoft attempt to screw everyone and everybody but in reality it may not be any better or worse, may not end up costing those it effects that much more, and it may even save them time and money if they normally upgrade often enough. The truth is, most of everything that Microsoft proposes and wants done screws the pirates more than it does anybody else.
You might be partially right, but Microsoft does understand the concept of not shitting in your kitchen.
That is to say that Microsoft is comprised of geeks. While they do understand the need for copyright laws (and indeed depend on them) they also see a demand for "Pay On Demand" services that DRM could provide for us (i.e. value added services), I've never seen that Microsoft has gone out of their way to make sure that we get TOTALLY screwed, constantly, and considerably. They themselves, after all, have to use the standards they push out onto the industry. They're not just Microsoft, they're also users.
Everyone assumes that
The legit users, if they think about it -- have nothing at all to complain about other than the principle it's self. I admit, the principle alone is enough to complain about, but if I had to pick badguys in the the IP battlefield, I could think of much worse enemies than Microsoft.
Microsoft just wants to curb or stop Piracy, possibly illiminate it. DRM wants to create a platform for which people can legally download copyrighted material. I'm not sure how anybody can say that either of these constitute bad things in and of themselves.
That whole monopolistic and anticompetitive thing is a different issue entirely.
I don't think any system can be excessive for a home machine. The more power you have the better, video games, video/audio editing, compiling, etc...
I agree with this, but I didn't mean "excessive" as in "More than Anybody Needs", but rather -- more than enough to perform the tasks requested.
There will always be situations where more is better, but there will also be points where more isn't noticable.
I was simply stating you can get great performance in the 800 to 1 ghz range -- but that doesn't mean Windows multitasks as well as Unix, it simply means our machines are getting so fast we hardly notice anymore.