That means it would actually fall under the usury clauses that several European countries have (which, at least in some cases, do apply if there's a significant and obvious disparity between the price paid and the value of the product received). A court in one of those jurisdictions could invalide any contract pertaining to the sale and/or licensing of those MP3s.
1. Drop $ 33 on a CD.
2. Sue the RIAA.
3. Profit. (Well, not really. I was just trying to make a point. A pricing scheme like that is ridiculous.)
I was wondering the same thing. The great thing about Knoppix STD, at least as far as I am concerned, is Knoppix's awesome auto-hardware recognition. I use a PDA with a WLAN CF card and carry a Knoppix STD CD that I use on the next available system to follow up on irregularities while doing network analysis.
And Knoppix STD (security tools distribution, just to clear that up;) works flawlessly on even the oldest and most exotic systems. I haven't personally used LAS Linux but the degree of flexibility Knoppix offers will be hard to match.
Maybe I am missing the point here but I don't really see how this is supposed to be an improvement.
Most adults are used to typing (it's part of their jobs) and are quite familiar with a search engine's interface. So even if they're confronted with an unknown application, a new search engine or a weird GUI they can usually figure out what to do. You take all that away by introducing a draw-a-sketch interface, hence reducing productivity.
And places that rely on having to search through a huge inventory of similar looking parts, like auto repair shops, either already have a system in place that uses hyperlinking or a deep-database, or use forms to enter part numbers to narrow down the selection to a few parts which can then be graphically displayed.
Volkswagen, for instance, does the latter. Car dealers can enter the VIN or the model and year into their forms and it displays a clickable, exploded view of the car, including all the various options. The program is also linked into their inventory and ordering system. Works pretty well, from what I hear.
Maybe this would work well for illiterate people though.
According to this BBC article, the mission completion is supposed to be in 16 months.
I found the following quote especially interesting:
Francis Everitt, the principal investigator of the project, said: "Aren't Einstein's theories all established and confirmed? After all it was 50 years ago that Einstein himself died and it's 100 years next year when he developed his first theory of relativity. Don't we already know it all? The answer is no."
I wonder what other theories that are generally accepted throughout the scientific community have not been completely tested and/or verified. And, quite frankly, I'm surprised that there isn't much more VC and grant money available to go and do research on stuff like this. Afterall, these projects are quite prestigious.
I've seen the head up display in a Corvette and while it seemed like a cool thing to have, it wasn't all that impressive resolution-wise. You could tell the display was engineered for one purpose, to display the current speed and revs, and it did just that. Plus, I really wouldn't want to have a text console, my audio player's interface and an IRC client in my face, all while watching the road. Something like this one the other hand could work quite well.
This remind me of this./ story (it's about using old discarding laptops and building a digital picture frame).
Now, it's probably not as easy to just an old laptop display for a project like this, especially if you want it to retract into the dashboard but it might be worth a shot. Plus, it sounds like a really cool project.
Alternatively, try go get yourself a display from a new-model BMW or Mercedes (2000 should be sufficient) from a scrapyard; those cars have pretty nice and clear displays and you won't have to worry about shock resistance.
$125k does sound like a pretty sweet deal, even if you take into consideration that it takes about two weeks to dub an episode (and that's not even considering the time to read the script, practice, etc.).
However, if you really look at this from a different perspective, it's not really that much money, after all. Each one of the Friend's cast makes $1 million an episode (one season consists of 22-24 eps). On top of that, they retain certain marketing rights, are allowed to do ads and have been signed for a full-time motion picture.
Now, NBC is actually loosing money. That's right - despite the fact that they've been desperately trying to get the cast to do yet another season (twice), been willing to go out of their way (rescheduled shootings, final season is shorter than usual) and that it's their #1 show, they're loosing money. And, this works out for NBC in the end because Friends can be endlessly rerun in syndication (hence, allowing NBC to recoup their losses several times over) and people will still watch it.
I don't have any figures for The Simpsons but since it's been in Fox's prime-time lineup for years now I figure they're getting pretty good ratings. So, in comparision - with the Simpsons being a much-lower cost, yet still very profitable, show asking for a bigger share of the pie isn't all that outrageous, in my humble opinion.
To quote what a friend of mine, who is a law enforcement officer, told a shady-looking guy who approached us at a drive-through ATM about his new red car:
"Yeah, it also came with a shiny new badge and some black tupperware[1]."
The guy just looked at him, puzzled, turned around and, literally, ran away. I just couldn't stop laughing...
Well, for one thing, it's an easy subject to "karmawhore" about. By now, everbody and their mother have heard about the "iPod battery problem" and many/.'ers have a tendency to be rather fond and/or supportive of Apple. So, I guess, for many trolls it just makes for good flamebait. It also allows them to follow up to their own posting with a link to some replacement battery manufacturer and therefore karmawhore some more.
On a related note though, I can understand the people complaining about it, at least to a point. I've had to have the Li-Ion battery of my PDA replaced twice (under warranty though). For most people, spending $400 on a CE item isn't exactly something trivial so they tend to expect their "invest" to just work. That's why I bought an extended warranty plan (well, the fact, that it the extended warranty was $15 extra did kinda help;).
Whilst this is interesting, especially the concept of having an easily hackable and adaptable MP3 device, at $249 for the wired and $299, respectively, for the wireless model, it's still way too expensive. And according to Froogle, the MSRP is pretty much what everyone else is charging.
At $300, one could easily build a stripped-down PC system with the same functionality (and more flexibility).
It also doesn't really look too cool either; more like like some standard CE set-top box so there's isn't really an "aesthetic incentive" to buy one of these either.
As a matter of fact, I was just sitting in my backyard, writing down some miscellaneous thoughts when I saw the article (ah, the beauty of 802.11b networking:) and found some of the quotes I had highlighted surprisingly fitting. For some reason, I must have been thinking about Churchill (I've always wanted to read Jenkin's take on Churchill).
I just finished reading a book on George Orwell's life. Here are some things Orwell is quoted to have said and written, more than half a decade ago.
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
"In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia."
"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."
"The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history."
and, probably my favorite one,
"Winston Churchill could not definitely remember a time when his country had not been at war."
What I personally find even more interesting is Walmart's TOS (Terms of Service) which, seem to, at least in part, supersede their general privacy policy.
12. Enforcement of These Terms of Service.
[...] You agree that WALMART.COM has the right, without liability to you, to disclose any Registration Data and/or Account information to law enforcement authorities, government officials, and/or a third party, as WALMART.COM believes is reasonably necessary or appropriate to enforce and/or verify compliance with any part of this Agreement (including but not limited to WALMART.COM's right to cooperate with any legal process relating to your use of the Service and/or Products, and/or a third party claim that your use of the Service and/or Products is unlawful and/or infringes such third party's rights). (emphasis added)
Interesting (in essence, that's "we can pretty much do whatever we damn well please with the data we connect about you and you can't do a thing about it")...
It's not very likely this bill will get passed anytime soon, if at all. In fact, it was already almost dead and they were ready to pretty much can the whole thing when Microsoft came along with their own proposal (which, by the way, does make me somewhat nervous; multinational corporations shouldn't be this involved in the legislative process, at least as far as I am concerned).
This bill, at least in its original form, was part of the Swiss telecommunication reform act. The commision dealing with consumer protection, which is overseeing this, already stated they wouldn't support the bill (for being too vague, from what I've heard). It also recommended to encourage research on anti-spam technology and advocated bolstering international cooperation.
There's also some partisan fighting going on over this (mostly behind the scenes though).
FIRST-GENERATION ELECTRONIC PAPER DISPLAY FROM PHILIPS, SONY AND E INK TO BE USED IN NEW ELECTRONIC READING DEVICE
[Picture]
Sony LIBRIe e-Book Reader utilizing Philips Electronic Paper Display featuring E Ink's electronic ink technology
Tokyo, Japan , Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Cambridge, MA, USA, March 24, 2004 - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI), Sony Corporation(NYSE: SNE) and E Ink Corporation announced today the world's first consumer application of an electronic paper display module in Sony's new e-Book reader, LIBRIe, scheduled to go on sale in Japan in late April. This "first ever" Philips' display utilizes E Ink's revolutionary electronic ink technology which offers a truly paper-like reading experience with contrast that is the same as newsprint.
The Electronic Paper Display is reflective and can be easily read in bright sunlight or dimly lit environments while being able to be seen at virtually any angle - just like paper. Its black and white ink-on-paper look, combined with a resolution in excess of most portable devices at approximately 170 pixels per inch (PPI), gives an appearance similar to that of the most widely read material on the planet - newspaper. Because the display uses power only when an image is changed, a user can read more than 10,000 pages before the four AAA Alkaline batteries need to be replaced. The unique technology also results in a compact and lightweight form factor allowing it to be ideal for highly portable applications.
Sony's e-Book reader LIBRIe, the first device to utilize Philips' display solution for enhanced reading, is similar in size and design to a paperback book. LIBRIe allows users to download published content, such as books or comic strips from the Internet, and enjoy it anywhere at any time. LIBRIe can store up to 500 downloaded books.
"In today's mobile world, we know that the quality of the experience and ease-of-use are important in driving consumer adoption of mobile devices. Up until now, consumers have been less willing to adopt e-reading applications because of poor display quality on cumbersome devices," said Mr. Yoshitaka Ukita, General Manager, e-Book Business Dept, Network Application & Content Service Sector, Sony Corporation. "This display solution provides a level of text clarity comparable to paper. Combined with our thin, lightweight device design, this novel e-Book reader offers users an enjoyable experience and the freedom to access material at their convenience."
"While the way people experience entertainment has changed dramatically with the rapid growth of portable entertainment devices like music and movie players, the way people read books, magazines and newspapers has not," said Jim Veninger, general manager, Emerging Display Technology, Philips Electronics. "The precision of this new high-resolution electronic ink display technology will revolutionize the way consumers read and access textual information."
The commercialization of this revolutionary display technology is a result of a strategic collaboration started in 2001 among E Ink Corporation, Toppan Printing and Philips together with Sony. Over the past 3 years, the four companies have made significant developments in manufacturing the world's first high-resolution electronic ink-based display module designed specifically for reading-intensive applications.
E Ink Corporation supplies electronic ink to their manufacturing partner Toppan Printing, who in turn processes the ink into a thin film called frontplane laminate. Philips integrates E Ink's frontplane laminate with an active matrix backplane and adds the driving electronics component. Philips works with Sony to co-develop and customize display solutions for innovative mobile devices.
"E Ink is thrilled that our first commercial launch is in product by Sony", said Russell Wilcox, president of E Ink Corporation. "Since the inception of our Company our goal has been to change the way people rec
To my knowledge, there are no specific regulations pertaining to what software an ATM must or must not run. After all, it's the financial institution's business and they're mostly liable for what their machines do (and, if their ATMs fail to perform the most basic safety checks, resulting in the ATM being robbed blind, then that's their problem, too).
Their have however been attempts to introduce legislation pertaining to ATM safety in general, both on the federal and on the state level (the only example that I'm personally familiar with being NY (see here and here) .
Around here, quite a few ATMs are still running OS/2 For some weird reason, they - just like the ATM the article talks about - have a tendency to crash, reboot and not load the ATM interfacing software.
I got a chance to talk to one of my bank's IT people about this a few months ago, and basically, they don't know what's causing the crashes because analyzing the log files would just be too much trouble. So their SOP is to have some guy with a key come out, literally pull the plug on the machine and wait till it reboots.
He also told me that they were slowly migrating over to a "custom XP version", whatever that's supposed to mean. I probably should have told him that Windows machines can be prone to virus infections (cough cought).
There's always CDBaby which has a an awesome collection, at least, as far as I am concerned and does kick back a good percentage of its profits to the artists themselves (and not their labels). As far as I know, international users are just as free to purchase songs as domestic users.
Looks like Apple's itunes won't be available in Europe anytime soon (apparently Napster seems to want to come back in Europe though).
Google's WAP (link goes to Google's WAP site; use a WAP emulator for true cell phone "feel & touch", like this one) has already implemented numeric-only search functionality, named "Google Num".
And, as a matter of fact, it does work quite nicely. It's basically a T9-to-Google interface - instead of having to hit a key multiple times to select one of the specific characters that a key maps to (ie. hit the "7" key 4x to get a "s") you just need to hit it once, and let the algorithm figure what you meant). I actually use this on a daily basis, and while it's not perfect, it's quite usable.
I beg to differ. What you fail to take into consideration is that, these days, MP3 does not automatically equal 'computer-based, software-only' implementation. Sure, the cost of switching from one software codec to another is, economically speaking, nil. All you need to do to make people switch is create an incentive and make sure that people don't consider the COA (cost of acquisition, ie. price, download time, availability) unreasonable.
Nowadays, however, MP3 capabilites are widely available in consumer-grade hardware, including your average $39 DVD player at Walmart and the $50 memory stick you got your brother for Christmas. These devices typically cannot be easily upgraded; plus, there's often no manufacturer support at all.
Your average consumer just won't accept a new encoding format if there's not an obvious, significant improvement. Joe Consumer doesn't want to throw away his old DVD player just to be able to keep listening to his music.
Joe: Hey Bob, check out this new DVD player I shelled out $150 for. Now, I can do precisely what my could do with my old player. Isn't that awesome?
Well, there are already a bunch of free XBox Live clones, e.g. XBconnect, XLink et al. Basically, these are all tunneling solutions and more or less of a hack.
There's just no way those solutions will be competing with commercial online gaming platforms, like XBox Live, any time soon though. Mostly, for technical reasons: most console users don't want to have to deal with setting up a LAN or even basic routing functionality (as you have to do when using a tunneling tool), no matter how simple, they just want stuff to work out of the box. Exposure is another problem: XBox Live is a household name. Most people, on the other hand, don't even know that independently run online gaming services exist.
It will be interesting to see how the PC gaming crowd, which is generally more inclined to tweak their systems and try new stuff, will react when free, preferably open-source online services become widely available. With high-bandwidth Internet access becoming affordable, or even standard, in many areas this might just turn out to be a very interesting thing(tm).
Well, there just might not be any mod chips available for a while after the initial XBox 2 release. Sure, installing a mod chip on a first generation XBox is pretty straightforward but that was only because the LPC ports were easily accessible, heck, even conveniently marked.
Now, with Microsoft taking a tougher stance on XBox DRM that might not necessarily be the case with XBox 2. (The D0, for instance, already is different on v1.0-v1.2 and v1.3-1.5 boxes; though not necessarily to prevent the installation of third-party addons) Sure, there's eventually going to be a way to circumvent any kind of copy protection but it might take a while...
Slashdot Mirror
That means it would actually fall under the usury clauses that several European countries have (which, at least in some cases, do apply if there's a significant and obvious disparity between the price paid and the value of the product received). A court in one of those jurisdictions could invalide any contract pertaining to the sale and/or licensing of those MP3s.
1. Drop $ 33 on a CD.
2. Sue the RIAA.
3. Profit. (Well, not really. I was just trying to make a point. A pricing scheme like that is ridiculous.)
And Knoppix STD (security tools distribution, just to clear that up ;) works flawlessly on even the oldest and most exotic systems. I haven't personally used LAS Linux but the degree of flexibility Knoppix offers will be hard to match.
Most adults are used to typing (it's part of their jobs) and are quite familiar with a search engine's interface. So even if they're confronted with an unknown application, a new search engine or a weird GUI they can usually figure out what to do. You take all that away by introducing a draw-a-sketch interface, hence reducing productivity.
And places that rely on having to search through a huge inventory of similar looking parts, like auto repair shops, either already have a system in place that uses hyperlinking or a deep-database, or use forms to enter part numbers to narrow down the selection to a few parts which can then be graphically displayed.
Volkswagen, for instance, does the latter. Car dealers can enter the VIN or the model and year into their forms and it displays a clickable, exploded view of the car, including all the various options. The program is also linked into their inventory and ordering system. Works pretty well, from what I hear.
Maybe this would work well for illiterate people though.
I found the following quote especially interesting:
Francis Everitt, the principal investigator of the project, said: "Aren't Einstein's theories all established and confirmed? After all it was 50 years ago that Einstein himself died and it's 100 years next year when he developed his first theory of relativity. Don't we already know it all? The answer is no."
I wonder what other theories that are generally accepted throughout the scientific community have not been completely tested and/or verified. And, quite frankly, I'm surprised that there isn't much more VC and grant money available to go and do research on stuff like this. Afterall, these projects are quite prestigious.
I've seen the head up display in a Corvette and while it seemed like a cool thing to have, it wasn't all that impressive resolution-wise. You could tell the display was engineered for one purpose, to display the current speed and revs, and it did just that. Plus, I really wouldn't want to have a text console, my audio player's interface and an IRC client in my face, all while watching the road. Something like this one the other hand could work quite well.
Now, it's probably not as easy to just an old laptop display for a project like this, especially if you want it to retract into the dashboard but it might be worth a shot. Plus, it sounds like a really cool project.
Alternatively, try go get yourself a display from a new-model BMW or Mercedes (2000 should be sufficient) from a scrapyard; those cars have pretty nice and clear displays and you won't have to worry about shock resistance.
$125k does sound like a pretty sweet deal, even if you take into consideration that it takes about two weeks to dub an episode (and that's not even considering the time to read the script, practice, etc.).
However, if you really look at this from a different perspective, it's not really that much money, after all.
Each one of the Friend's cast makes $1 million an episode (one season consists of 22-24 eps). On top of that, they retain certain marketing rights, are allowed to do ads and have been signed for a full-time motion picture.
Now, NBC is actually loosing money. That's right - despite the fact that they've been desperately trying to get the cast to do yet another season (twice), been willing to go out of their way (rescheduled shootings, final season is shorter than usual) and that it's their #1 show, they're loosing money. And, this works out for NBC in the end because Friends can be endlessly rerun in syndication (hence, allowing NBC to recoup their losses several times over) and people will still watch it.
I don't have any figures for The Simpsons but since it's been in Fox's prime-time lineup for years now I figure they're getting pretty good ratings. So, in comparision - with the Simpsons being a much-lower cost, yet still very profitable, show asking for a bigger share of the pie isn't all that outrageous, in my humble opinion.
Ah crap, what are we supposed to do before lunch now? Guess I'll actually have to start working...
"Yeah, it also came with a shiny new badge and some black tupperware[1]."
The guy just looked at him, puzzled, turned around and, literally, ran away. I just couldn't stop laughing...
[1] Semi-automatic, plastic/polymer sidearm
On a related note though, I can understand the people complaining about it, at least to a point. I've had to have the Li-Ion battery of my PDA replaced twice (under warranty though). For most people, spending $400 on a CE item isn't exactly something trivial so they tend to expect their "invest" to just work. That's why I bought an extended warranty plan (well, the fact, that it the extended warranty was $15 extra did kinda help ;).
At $300, one could easily build a stripped-down PC system with the same functionality (and more flexibility).
It also doesn't really look too cool either; more like like some standard CE set-top box so there's isn't really an "aesthetic incentive" to buy one of these either.
As a matter of fact, I was just sitting in my backyard, writing down some miscellaneous thoughts when I saw the article (ah, the beauty of 802.11b networking :) and found some of the quotes I had highlighted surprisingly fitting. For some reason, I must have been thinking about Churchill (I've always wanted to read Jenkin's take on Churchill).
Anyway, thank you for point this out. :)
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
"In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia."
"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."
"The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history."
and, probably my favorite one,
"Winston Churchill could not definitely remember a time when his country had not been at war."
Just thought I'd share...
12. Enforcement of These Terms of Service.
[...] You agree that WALMART.COM has the right, without liability to you, to disclose any Registration Data and/or Account information to law enforcement authorities, government officials, and/or a third party , as WALMART.COM believes is reasonably necessary or appropriate to enforce and/or verify compliance with any part of this Agreement (including but not limited to WALMART.COM's right to cooperate with any legal process relating to your use of the Service and/or Products, and/or a third party claim that your use of the Service and/or Products is unlawful and/or infringes such third party's rights).
(emphasis added)
Interesting (in essence, that's "we can pretty much do whatever we damn well please with the data we connect about you and you can't do a thing about it")...
This bill, at least in its original form, was part of the Swiss telecommunication reform act. The commision dealing with consumer protection, which is overseeing this, already stated they wouldn't support the bill (for being too vague, from what I've heard). It also recommended to encourage research on anti-spam technology and advocated bolstering international cooperation.
There's also some partisan fighting going on over this (mostly behind the scenes though).
Here ya go...
PRESS RELEASE
FIRST-GENERATION ELECTRONIC PAPER DISPLAY FROM PHILIPS, SONY AND E INK TO BE USED IN NEW ELECTRONIC READING DEVICE
[Picture]
Sony LIBRIe e-Book Reader utilizing Philips Electronic Paper Display featuring E Ink's electronic ink technology
Tokyo, Japan , Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Cambridge, MA, USA, March 24, 2004 - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI), Sony Corporation(NYSE: SNE) and E Ink Corporation announced today the world's first consumer application of an electronic paper display module in Sony's new e-Book reader, LIBRIe, scheduled to go on sale in Japan in late April. This "first ever" Philips' display utilizes E Ink's revolutionary electronic ink technology which offers a truly paper-like reading experience with contrast that is the same as newsprint.
The Electronic Paper Display is reflective and can be easily read in bright sunlight or dimly lit environments while being able to be seen at virtually any angle - just like paper. Its black and white ink-on-paper look, combined with a resolution in excess of most portable devices at approximately 170 pixels per inch (PPI), gives an appearance similar to that of the most widely read material on the planet - newspaper. Because the display uses power only when an image is changed, a user can read more than 10,000 pages before the four AAA Alkaline batteries need to be replaced. The unique technology also results in a compact and lightweight form factor allowing it to be ideal for highly portable applications.
Sony's e-Book reader LIBRIe, the first device to utilize Philips' display solution for enhanced reading, is similar in size and design to a paperback book. LIBRIe allows users to download published content, such as books or comic strips from the Internet, and enjoy it anywhere at any time. LIBRIe can store up to 500 downloaded books.
"In today's mobile world, we know that the quality of the experience and ease-of-use are important in driving consumer adoption of mobile devices. Up until now, consumers have been less willing to adopt e-reading applications because of poor display quality on cumbersome devices," said Mr. Yoshitaka Ukita, General Manager, e-Book Business Dept, Network Application & Content Service Sector, Sony Corporation. "This display solution provides a level of text clarity comparable to paper. Combined with our thin, lightweight device design, this novel e-Book reader offers users an enjoyable experience and the freedom to access material at their convenience."
"While the way people experience entertainment has changed dramatically with the rapid growth of portable entertainment devices like music and movie players, the way people read books, magazines and newspapers has not," said Jim Veninger, general manager, Emerging Display Technology, Philips Electronics. "The precision of this new high-resolution electronic ink display technology will revolutionize the way consumers read and access textual information."
The commercialization of this revolutionary display technology is a result of a strategic collaboration started in 2001 among E Ink Corporation, Toppan Printing and Philips together with Sony. Over the past 3 years, the four companies have made significant developments in manufacturing the world's first high-resolution electronic ink-based display module designed specifically for reading-intensive applications.
E Ink Corporation supplies electronic ink to their manufacturing partner Toppan Printing, who in turn processes the ink into a thin film called frontplane laminate. Philips integrates E Ink's frontplane laminate with an active matrix backplane and adds the driving electronics component. Philips works with Sony to co-develop and customize display solutions for innovative mobile devices.
"E Ink is thrilled that our first commercial launch is in product by Sony", said Russell Wilcox, president of E Ink Corporation. "Since the inception of our Company our goal has been to change the way people rec
Their have however been attempts to introduce legislation pertaining to ATM safety in general, both on the federal and on the state level (the only example that I'm personally familiar with being NY (see here and here) .
I got a chance to talk to one of my bank's IT people about this a few months ago, and basically, they don't know what's causing the crashes because analyzing the log files would just be too much trouble. So their SOP is to have some guy with a key come out, literally pull the plug on the machine and wait till it reboots.
He also told me that they were slowly migrating over to a "custom XP version", whatever that's supposed to mean. I probably should have told him that Windows machines can be prone to virus infections (cough cought).
I'm fairly sure that if they took all the porn off the internet there'd only be one website left and it'd be called "BringbackthePorn.com".
Looks like Apple's itunes won't be available in Europe anytime soon (apparently Napster seems to want to come back in Europe though).
And, as a matter of fact, it does work quite nicely. It's basically a T9-to-Google interface - instead of having to hit a key multiple times to select one of the specific characters that a key maps to (ie. hit the "7" key 4x to get a "s") you just need to hit it once, and let the algorithm figure what you meant). I actually use this on a daily basis, and while it's not perfect, it's quite usable.
Very true. You might find Coffee Health Myths Explained and Google Cache version of a government study interesting. I guess when it comes to socially-accepted "drugs", there's always a lot of FUD involved.
Nowadays, however, MP3 capabilites are widely available in consumer-grade hardware, including your average $39 DVD player at Walmart and the $50 memory stick you got your brother for Christmas. These devices typically cannot be easily upgraded; plus, there's often no manufacturer support at all.
Your average consumer just won't accept a new encoding format if there's not an obvious, significant improvement. Joe Consumer doesn't want to throw away his old DVD player just to be able to keep listening to his music.
Joe: Hey Bob, check out this new DVD player I shelled out $150 for. Now, I can do precisely what my could do with my old player. Isn't that awesome?
Nope, not gonna happen.
There's just no way those solutions will be competing with commercial online gaming platforms, like XBox Live, any time soon though. Mostly, for technical reasons: most console users don't want to have to deal with setting up a LAN or even basic routing functionality (as you have to do when using a tunneling tool), no matter how simple, they just want stuff to work out of the box. Exposure is another problem: XBox Live is a household name. Most people, on the other hand, don't even know that independently run online gaming services exist.
It will be interesting to see how the PC gaming crowd, which is generally more inclined to tweak their systems and try new stuff, will react when free, preferably open-source online services become widely available. With high-bandwidth Internet access becoming affordable, or even standard, in many areas this might just turn out to be a very interesting thing(tm).
Now, with Microsoft taking a tougher stance on XBox DRM that might not necessarily be the case with XBox 2. (The D0, for instance, already is different on v1.0-v1.2 and v1.3-1.5 boxes; though not necessarily to prevent the installation of third-party addons) Sure, there's eventually going to be a way to circumvent any kind of copy protection but it might take a while...