Phantasy Star Online (or whatever it's called), which is coming out for the Dreamcast later this year, has a 'symbolic' language that players can use to speak to each other, even if they don't speak the same language in Real Life.
All the companies that are creaming themselves over the potential of the 'handheld' market seem to completely ingnore the battery-life problem. Until thats solved, they're going to remain niche products, hampered by their inability ro really supply enough juice to run processor and video-intensive applications for more than a couple of hours per battery charge.
The reason the PS2 doesn't come with ethernet, and for that matter the reason the Dreamcast doesn't come with it either, is that MOST users in the US (and the world) don't have the option of a cable modem or DSL. But nearly everyone has a phone line.
I mean, duh. Isn't that pretty obvious?
If you have a fast connection, buy an Ethernet adapter and plug it into the USB port or one of the PCMCIA slots.
I use Napster to download songs that I don't own. It's stealing. Do I care? Not really. Record companies make enough money that I don't feel guilty about it.
Does that make it right? No, not at all.
If the record companies want to prevent piracy, it's up to them to make it harder. As long as it's easy, I'm gonna do it.
HOWEVER, if piracy ever got bad enough that artists could no longer afford to produce music, I would stop. I don't think that's gonna happen, though. As someone said in an earlier post, way more people have the equipment to copy a CD to a casssette tape than have the equipment to make/listen to MP3s, and yet, more CDs were sold last year than ever. If cassette tapes haven't killed the music industry, MP3s never will, either.
My point is, steal while you can, because one way or the other, Napster is gonna go away. Something else will pick up the slack, but it will never be as easy to download MP3s as it is right now.
Who is Jon Katz, and does he really take himself as seriously as he seems to? Most importantly, why does Slashdot keep posting his unbelievably bad articles?
He hasn't been funny since 1983. A smart guy, a talented guy, but funny...not anymore. And definitely not original. He's been doing the same shtick for years and years.
Eventually you'd have different versions of the kernel, 15 different (and not totally compatible) window managers, config files that you had to edit by hand using an external keyboard, etc.
:)
eBooks have a VERY long way to go
on
King's New eBook
·
· Score: 1
Here's what an eBook would have to be capable of doing to replace a plain-old paperback-
1. Batteries that last forever 2. Waterproof (at least not rendered unusable by water damage)
3. Flexible/foldable 4. Unharmed by throwing, dropping, smashing, etc.. 5. Cheap enough to be disposable
How many things on that list do we have the technology to do? Not many. The 'disposability' is what really kills it. It may be possible to manufacture a device that can do all those things, but it won't be cheap. In fact, if a company was to put one on the market now, with all those capabilities, it would cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
eBooks, like so many other technologies-that- sound-like-a-good-idea, really aren't
The Playstation 2 doesn't really have an operating system in the typical sense of the word. It has a layer of APIs (kind of) that make it easier to access hardware functions. This layer doesn't have to be used/loaded if the programmers wish to bypass it.
As programmers become more familiar with the hardware, they will cease to use most of those APIs, since writing 'to the metal' is faster and offers more flexibility.
You can't just re-broadcast stuff. Isn't that obvious?
Still, you would think that the networks would start doing this themselves. It would be cheap, and they could stick new ads in every week. I know a lot of soap fans that would LOVE to be able to watch old episodes.
I think people misunderstand what a 'standard desktop/GUI' means.
It doesn't mean 'you can't customize anything', or at least it shouldn't. It means that programmers can assume things when they write graphical apps. And thats a good thing. The perfect standard GUI would let you customize all the aspects of the look of it, and some of the aspects of the way it functions, if they aren't fundamental.
If I hear one more person say 'No, we shouldn't have a standard GUI because we should all be able to pick our own' I'm gonna puke. Linux will NEVER be all it can be until everyone can settle on a few basic ideas about what Linux should/can do right out of the box.
Because right now, installing Linux is like writing your own novel. You may learn a lot about writing, but sometimes you just wanna READ and be entertained, you know?
I don't think Linux itself will (or should, or can) die off. But, for the Love of God, when will someone murder X-Windows? I'm sure everyone will agree with me that the biggest obstacle facing Linux is the clunkiness of the X-Windows/window manager situation. I for one would be more than willing to give up X-Windows compatability to have something as slick as the BeOS UI. Besides, how many really cool X-Windows appliations are there? And by cool, I mean that really embrace the concept of a GUI? Many of the X-Windows apps I've used are just pretty interfaces on top of what are essentially command-line driven programs. End of rant.
He's too dramatic. Everything he writes sounds like the rough draft of a script for a TV movie-of-the-week. I think that he drags down the respectability of Slashdot, especially since the people that run this site seem to treat him as if he is some kind of Holy Scribe of Geekness.
How many GOOD movies have been made that are set in a 'fantasy' world? Precious few. Its just too hard to pull off, and from what I've heard/seen about the D&D movie, it's not gonna work.
To me, the sign that the makers of it have the wrong idea was when I read about how they intended to "stick to the rules of D&D' as much as possible". Uhhh...isn't a film supposed to tell a story? Shouldn't that be the first priority?
I read a lot of science fiction, and I read Childhood's End a couple of years ago. I honestly can't remember anything about the book except the basic plot.
Clarke is overrated as an author. He's an IDEA man, not a writer.
"Oh, Lucas just wants to make us buy the movie twice! Once on VHS, once on DVD!"
Excuse me, why do you have to buy it on VHS if you don't want it on VHS? Do you just HAVE to have it as soon as its available? Is the pain of NOT having it too much to bear?
The scariest thing for newbies is installing software packages. It's scary for ME. Hunting down all the libraries necessary to get something to run is retarded. The worst thing about Linux, bar none.
I'm gonna start going door to door...
on
Planet Gattaca
·
· Score: 1
In the spirit of Christmas, I've started the Help Jon Katz Foundation.
All proceeds will be used to buy Jon both a Clue, and some Writing Talent.
I hate to turn this into a discussion about piracy, however: Does anyone REALLY believe that the music/software/video industry would lower the prices of their products if piracy was eliminated? I sure don't. The price of a product is not related to how cheap/profitable it is to manufacture. Its related to what people are willing to pay. These companies are making billions of dollars, which tells them that their products, overpriced as they may seem, aren't overpriced enough that people don't buy them. In fact, they buy more of that stuff than they ever have. Im not pro-piracy, but the 'if we stopped piracy, prices would be much lower' argument is not valid.
Trust me, the 'main-stream media outlets' could care less if Slashdot readers, or any other readers for that matter, pick apart their stories. Ratings is rating, hits is hits. They'll gladly write a completely incorrect and inflammatory article if they know lots of people will read it. So yeah, we are a blessing and a curse, but in their eyes, a curse is just as good as a blessing:)
We would all get along if we could finally settle one ONE operating system to be used by ALL computers worldwide. Or at least some system of making sure that no matter what platform I'm using, I can run ANY software available with no compatibility issues. Hopefully, one of the current OSes will evolve into something usable and extensible and stable and configurable and portable enough that everyone will be more or less happy with it. Right now, it does look like Linux may be that OS. I sure hope so. Sean Delk
"Amiga is going to produce software technology that will enable Internet services on an emerging category of products commonly referred to as "Information Appliances"."
So...what..Amiga is now the equivalent of Trumpet Winsock? But it works on (non-existent) Information Appliances?
Slashdot Mirror
Phantasy Star Online (or whatever it's called), which is coming out for the Dreamcast later this year, has a 'symbolic' language that players can use to speak to each other, even if they don't speak the same language in Real Life.
I agree completely.
All the companies that are creaming themselves over the potential of the 'handheld' market seem to completely ingnore the battery-life problem. Until thats solved, they're going to remain niche products, hampered by their inability ro really supply enough juice to run processor and video-intensive applications for more than a couple of hours per battery charge.
The reason the PS2 doesn't come with ethernet, and for that matter the reason the Dreamcast doesn't come with it either, is that MOST users in the US (and the world) don't have the option of a cable modem or DSL. But nearly everyone has a phone line.
I mean, duh. Isn't that pretty obvious?
If you have a fast connection, buy an Ethernet adapter and plug it into the USB port or one of the PCMCIA slots.
I use Napster to download songs that I don't own. It's stealing. Do I care? Not really. Record companies make enough money that I don't feel guilty about it.
Does that make it right? No, not at all.
If the record companies want to prevent piracy, it's up to them to make it harder. As long as it's easy, I'm gonna do it.
HOWEVER, if piracy ever got bad enough that artists could no longer afford to produce music, I would stop. I don't think that's gonna happen, though. As someone said in an earlier post, way more people have the equipment to copy a CD to a casssette tape than have the equipment to make/listen to MP3s, and yet, more CDs were sold last year than ever. If cassette tapes haven't killed the music industry, MP3s never will, either.
My point is, steal while you can, because one way or the other, Napster is gonna go away. Something else will pick up the slack, but it will never be as easy to download MP3s as it is right now.
He can even make a simple movie review seem pretentious. What a guy.
Who is Jon Katz, and does he really take himself as seriously as he seems to? Most importantly, why does Slashdot keep posting his unbelievably bad articles?
He hasn't been funny since 1983. A smart guy, a talented guy, but funny...not anymore. And definitely not original. He's been doing the same shtick for years and years.
Eventually you'd have different versions of the kernel, 15 different (and not totally compatible) window managers, config files that you had to edit by hand using an external keyboard, etc.
:)
Here's what an eBook would have to be capable of doing to replace a plain-old paperback-
1. Batteries that last forever
2. Waterproof (at least not rendered unusable by water damage)
3. Flexible/foldable
4. Unharmed by throwing, dropping, smashing, etc..
5. Cheap enough to be disposable
How many things on that list do we have the technology to do? Not many. The 'disposability' is what really kills it. It may be possible to manufacture a device that can do all those things, but it won't be cheap. In fact, if a company was to put one on the market now, with all those capabilities, it would cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
eBooks, like so many other technologies-that- sound-like-a-good-idea, really aren't
To clarify:
The Playstation 2 doesn't really have an operating system in the typical sense of the word. It has a layer of APIs (kind of) that make it easier to access hardware functions. This layer doesn't have to be used/loaded if the programmers wish to bypass it.
As programmers become more familiar with the hardware, they will cease to use most of those APIs, since writing 'to the metal' is faster and offers more flexibility.
You can't just re-broadcast stuff. Isn't that obvious?
Still, you would think that the networks would start doing this themselves. It would be cheap, and they could stick new ads in every week. I know a lot of soap fans that would LOVE to be able to watch old episodes.
I think people misunderstand what a 'standard desktop/GUI' means.
It doesn't mean 'you can't customize anything', or at least it shouldn't. It means that programmers can assume things when they write graphical apps. And thats a good thing. The perfect standard GUI would let you customize all the aspects of the look of it, and some of the aspects of the way it functions, if they aren't fundamental.
If I hear one more person say 'No, we shouldn't have a standard GUI because we should all be able to pick our own' I'm gonna puke. Linux will NEVER be all it can be until everyone can settle on a few basic ideas about what Linux should/can do right out of the box.
Because right now, installing Linux is like writing your own novel. You may learn a lot about writing, but sometimes you just wanna READ and be entertained, you know?
I don't think Linux itself will (or should, or can) die off. But, for the Love of God, when will someone murder X-Windows? I'm sure everyone will agree with me that the biggest obstacle facing Linux is the clunkiness of the X-Windows/window manager situation. I for one would be more than willing to give up X-Windows compatability to have something as slick as the BeOS UI. Besides, how many really cool X-Windows appliations are there? And by cool, I mean that really embrace the concept of a GUI? Many of the X-Windows apps I've used are just pretty interfaces on top of what are essentially command-line driven programs. End of rant.
He's too dramatic. Everything he writes sounds like the rough draft of a script for a TV movie-of-the-week. I think that he drags down the respectability of Slashdot, especially since the people that run this site seem to treat him as if he is some kind of Holy Scribe of Geekness.
How many GOOD movies have been made that are set in a 'fantasy' world? Precious few. Its just too hard to pull off, and from what I've heard/seen about the D&D movie, it's not gonna work.
To me, the sign that the makers of it have the wrong idea was when I read about how they intended to "stick to the rules of D&D' as much as possible". Uhhh...isn't a film supposed to tell a story? Shouldn't that be the first priority?
It'll suck, prepare yourself.
I read a lot of science fiction, and I read Childhood's End a couple of years ago. I honestly can't remember anything about the book except the basic plot.
Clarke is overrated as an author. He's an IDEA man, not a writer.
"Oh, Lucas just wants to make us buy the movie twice! Once on VHS, once on DVD!"
Excuse me, why do you have to buy it on VHS if you don't want it on VHS? Do you just HAVE to have it as soon as its available? Is the pain of NOT having it too much to bear?
Jesus. Relax.
The scariest thing for newbies is installing software packages. It's scary for ME. Hunting down all the libraries necessary to get something to run is retarded. The worst thing about Linux, bar none.
In the spirit of Christmas, I've started the Help Jon Katz Foundation.
All proceeds will be used to buy Jon both a Clue, and some Writing Talent.
You CAN make a difference.
I hate to turn this into a discussion about piracy, however: Does anyone REALLY believe that the music/software/video industry would lower the prices of their products if piracy was eliminated? I sure don't. The price of a product is not related to how cheap/profitable it is to manufacture. Its related to what people are willing to pay. These companies are making billions of dollars, which tells them that their products, overpriced as they may seem, aren't overpriced enough that people don't buy them. In fact, they buy more of that stuff than they ever have. Im not pro-piracy, but the 'if we stopped piracy, prices would be much lower' argument is not valid.
These kids got what they deserved. Distributing MP3s of copyrighted songs is illegal, after all.
:)
I thought Carnegie Mellon students were smarter than this
Trust me, the 'main-stream media outlets' could care less if Slashdot readers, or any other readers for that matter, pick apart their stories. Ratings is rating, hits is hits. They'll gladly write a completely incorrect and inflammatory article if they know lots of people will read it. So yeah, we are a blessing and a curse, but in their eyes, a curse is just as good as a blessing :)
We would all get along if we could finally settle one ONE operating system to be used by ALL computers worldwide. Or at least some system of making sure that no matter what platform I'm using, I can run ANY software available with no compatibility issues. Hopefully, one of the current OSes will evolve into something usable and extensible and stable and configurable and portable enough that everyone will be more or less happy with it. Right now, it does look like Linux may be that OS. I sure hope so. Sean Delk
"Amiga- Bringing Absolutely Nothing Into The 21st Century"
p.s.- I used to have an Amiga, and loved the thing, so I have a right to be bitter.
Here's a quote from the Executive Update:
"Amiga is going to produce software technology that will enable Internet services on an emerging category of products commonly referred to as "Information Appliances"."
So...what..Amiga is now the equivalent of Trumpet Winsock? But it works on (non-existent) Information Appliances?
Wow, thats great. That was worth a 3-year wait.