I like your thinking about possible safety avenues, but I'm not sure any of them have any real merit.
Regarding toddlers sticking metal objects into the socket, the 2008 National Electric Code calls for tamper proof outlets, which are already adopted by an overwhelming majority of states. Those are fairly cheap and prevent sticking items in one side of the socket. GFCIs have been around for quite a while that trip if it detects a slight imbalance in electric flow, sending the current through a relay which cuts the power.
I don't see how and outlet could logically not allow current t o flow if it risks overloading the circuit since it would need to have the draw first to determine that. Isn't this what circuit breakers are traditionally for? Implementing that in an outlet would seem to be like a GFCI where it trips that outlet but leaves the circuit functional. I'm pretty sure voltage would require the device to be smarter, not the outlet.
Grounding on an outlet (the third prong) is only good for protecting equipment, not people. Again, the device would be able to make that determination if its smart enough, the outlet has no practical way of enforcing that without being able to tell a smart device to actually flow current through ground and then sense it for verification. An outlet on its own can't do it, and assuming both outlets and devices were changed to support it, said device would then trip a GFCI if it wasn't plugged into one of these special outlets.
Yes, the customer pays indirectly, but that still doesn't change the fact that AA is being forced to provide the information through an intermediary that is a competitor. We have both sides that have a stake in how the information is transferred in an effort to reduce costs on their end, increasing profits, which inversely affects the other. I'm torn between siding with AA who owns the information, and Orbitz who was/is already wired to use their provider. As a consumer, I could wash my hands of this as I rarely fly AA due to costs, but I think the principle of the matter is important here.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the article, but what is up with a business (AA) being forced to use a specific third party processor owned by a competitor and paying for the "privilege" in this manner. AA is the originator of the information and it should be at their discretion to which global distribution systems they publish it to
According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_reservations_system) there are a handful of systems. The top two each serve just under half of the U.S. market share, one of which is created by American Airlines. The next largest is Travelport's "Worldspan" which is used by Orbitz.
Well it's suggesting that Epic kept portions of the engine to themselves to build Gears of War, touted what could be done with it, but didn't turn the essential capabilities over to the licensees.
A well known site offering news for nerds references a blog, that in turn references a subsite of a major gaming console revealing the obvious: Sound is an important element of games, and there is a correlation between the quality of sound produced and the amount of practice by those performing.
</sarcasm>
Ok. So I read the articles. And really, there are more interesting things about the music. For example, this gem:
When Mario shoots off from the Sling Star, for example, harp music plays as a sound effect. If you listen carefully, this harp will sound in perfect timing with the background music. This kind of technique rarely gets noticed however.
I imagine now knowing that special effort was applied to accomplish this will increase the appreciation I would I have for the game. But probably most revealing is this
"Yokota-san, if somewhere in your mind you have an image that Mario is cute, please get rid of it."... "Mario is cool"
Playing various Mario games over the years, it seemed that Mario had gone from some kind of rugged savior, to a fun plush toy. But embracing the notion that Mario is more then a cute character, and has some cool charm is also fitting considering the changes to have occurred to the Nintendo console over the years. The Nintendo 64 and GameCube seem more like toys. While the Wii isn't a "powerhouse" next to its brethren, I definately think its cool.
The impression that the music was slavishly trying to be like previous Mario music had disappeared. Before that, many of the pieces felt like they secretly wanted to copy the Mario sound, and the presence of elements like that made them sound unnatural.
This is a key element for innovation. Recognizing where you're just copying and doing something about it forces changes that result in raising the quality bar. Overall, I see this as a good thing.
My instincts are telling me that Epic is in the wrong here, simply from the commentary. From the article... Epic VP Mark Rein said. "Often these requests are denied. It is important to note that this was not a decision on the merits of Silicon Knights' claims. We are confident that the evidence will show Silicon Knights breached its license with Epic Games and violated our copyrights and trade secrets." So Epic licenses the Unreal Engine to SK. SK doesn't get all the working elements of the engine per the contract, and meanwhile, Gears of War goes forward using the engine. SK and other licensees are scrambling to make something work from nothing, and Epic turns around and says its SK that violates the copyright and trade secrets? Sounds like deflection to me, just like their counter-claim.
Maybe around $10 is all the vendor paid Microsoft for that license to begin with? I know there once was a time that the price charged was in that neighborhood, but this was a few years ago. More recently, the only evidence I have of this is some student licenses for software I got last year. - I think they were running between $7 and $10 per title for OSs, Office Suites, MS Project and Visio. Microsoft gives the vendor a massive deal. If you were paying the MSRP on the software, then the computers at the store would easily cost a few hundred more.
Wow. - Until reading this interview I wasn't even aware there was such a thing as Club Nintendo in other regions of the world. As a kid, I remember virtually drooling over the first Nintendo until I finally got one. I guess our "Club" really consisted of school. Many many hours spent talking about games with friends at school. Of course, there weren't any perks like what was mentioned about turning in UPCs for earning free stuff (ala kool-aid points I guess?), but still, since the earliest days of Nintendo there seemed to be a sense of community.
It's ironic how as technology moves forward, and we find these ways to connect easier, we also seem to distance ourselves. It's like LAN parties. I can't remember the last time I hosted or went to a LAN party since now virtually everything is over the 'net (I know the LAN parties still exist, but for most people I have to assume participation in such events and the quantity of events is on the decline)
Would something like 'Club Nintendo' be beneficial in the US? Not sure. Considering the Wii is still relatively difficult to get compared to the 360 or PS3, it's not like there is a compelling need for Nintendo to offer incentives. Maybe the whole notion is replaced at the retail level. For example, chain stores that for an annual fee give you discounts and pay out more for used games. On the other hand, there's something to be said for being able to get unique items that are typical of fan clubs that you can't get elsewhere (excluding ebay of course).
I have no idea what any of that means in real life, but it sounds enough like Tom Clancy writing that it must be true! Words like 'skewback', 'nacelle', 'cavitate' sound s-m-art.
It seems like WINE has been around forever. And here there is this minor update, yippee! What annoys me is this lack of 64 bit support.
Late last year I finally switched completely (for the most part) to Linux due to Window's lack of 64bit support. Mind you, I was shocked and stunned (or is it the other way around) that I was getting better hardware support under Linux then Windows. But what has been disappointing is a need for some applications that do not exist under Linux, and where no comparable alternatives exist (Photoshop, Microsoft Visio, etc. - and no, Gimp is not comparable. Its not even comparable to Paint Shop Pro). For my college classes, I sometimes need to access systems that are in effect DRMed and only work under IE (that whole invasive ActiveX, junk up your system crud). Their solution to accessing this under Linux is to use WINE. Which, seems to be only 32 bit. I could have swore I read something awhile back suggesting they were going to be doing a 64 bit version this year. I take it this hasn't happened yet.
In light of this slashdot article post, I've once again looked into WINE. I have recently discovered WineOn64Bit article on the WINE Wiki. Will shoot for giving that a try in the next few days. Has anyone else done this successfully? Any caveats not mentioned in that article? Or does anyone know anything about some native 64 bit WINE?
Yes, 4000 "small computer servers" times 2000 square feet equals 8 million square feet. But this is unlikely the arrangement. Consider instead a few buildings of data centers, each with 1 or more relatively small rooms. Within a room, there may be a few racks, all surrounded by walking space, and other perhipherals like AC units. Then outside of those rooms, more walking space for hallways. When you factor in all the human space and simple space for ventilation, and then cubicles and monitoring for support personnel it could average around 2000 square feet (40x50).
The same logic can be applied to costs.. $250 million / 4000 machines = $62.5K. Some of that is actual hardware, and software licenses. Some of that is ongoing support from their full time employees on staff to maintain the things.
The fact is, there are thousands of people that already are paying for demos. Whether in the form of discs included with the gaming magazines, disc exchanges for beta games, or premium memberships to download sites, there are several avenues where demos are effectively 'purchased', rather then had for free.
But the article is implying that the content of the magazine would be available along with the demos. Essentially, everything digitized. To me, that seems like a good deal for only $2.50 a month if you're buying the magazine already. And, with it accessible over live, that's just a matter of convenience. No worries about it getting lost in themail, or the cd getting destroyed, or the news stand not having it in stock, and so forth. Small price to pay if you really really want the content or demos.
-Krozy
try 7 hours before losing all your cities! - I loved that game back in the day. Probably the longest time I've ever played a single game of that type. Even pacman I couldnt keep going for that long.
Ok, I'm curious about that video... - Was that a guy actually quitting, or just a prank of a duo walking into an open warehouse type place acting like they worked there.
I wonder what impact this will have on parents who bought their kids firefly mobile phones. On a related note, I wonder how we can find out what exact brands and subbrands and such are actually affected.
The monitor is the one thing that I see as a problem. Dust is minor, easily dealt with to prevent problems. Monitors can be a pain. I once had a system that sat in my apartment over christmas break during college. I get back, and the thing was frozen. Turned it on, and nothing worked. - Flipped it a few times and finally left it there, it finally came up after about 10 minutes.
Slashdot Mirror
I like your thinking about possible safety avenues, but I'm not sure any of them have any real merit.
Regarding toddlers sticking metal objects into the socket, the 2008 National Electric Code calls for tamper proof outlets, which are already adopted by an overwhelming majority of states. Those are fairly cheap and prevent sticking items in one side of the socket. GFCIs have been around for quite a while that trip if it detects a slight imbalance in electric flow, sending the current through a relay which cuts the power.
I don't see how and outlet could logically not allow current t o flow if it risks overloading the circuit since it would need to have the draw first to determine that. Isn't this what circuit breakers are traditionally for? Implementing that in an outlet would seem to be like a GFCI where it trips that outlet but leaves the circuit functional. I'm pretty sure voltage would require the device to be smarter, not the outlet.
Grounding on an outlet (the third prong) is only good for protecting equipment, not people. Again, the device would be able to make that determination if its smart enough, the outlet has no practical way of enforcing that without being able to tell a smart device to actually flow current through ground and then sense it for verification. An outlet on its own can't do it, and assuming both outlets and devices were changed to support it, said device would then trip a GFCI if it wasn't plugged into one of these special outlets.
Yes, the customer pays indirectly, but that still doesn't change the fact that AA is being forced to provide the information through an intermediary that is a competitor. We have both sides that have a stake in how the information is transferred in an effort to reduce costs on their end, increasing profits, which inversely affects the other. I'm torn between siding with AA who owns the information, and Orbitz who was/is already wired to use their provider. As a consumer, I could wash my hands of this as I rarely fly AA due to costs, but I think the principle of the matter is important here.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the article, but what is up with a business (AA) being forced to use a specific third party processor owned by a competitor and paying for the "privilege" in this manner. AA is the originator of the information and it should be at their discretion to which global distribution systems they publish it to According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_reservations_system) there are a handful of systems. The top two each serve just under half of the U.S. market share, one of which is created by American Airlines. The next largest is Travelport's "Worldspan" which is used by Orbitz.
If prepaid runs less then $.01/min, then shouldn't you be able to get 450 minutes a month for less then $4.50, as opposed to the $8 you stated?
Well it's suggesting that Epic kept portions of the engine to themselves to build Gears of War, touted what could be done with it, but didn't turn the essential capabilities over to the licensees.
<sarcasm>
A well known site offering news for nerds references a blog, that in turn references a subsite of a major gaming console revealing the obvious: Sound is an important element of games, and there is a correlation between the quality of sound produced and the amount of practice by those performing.
</sarcasm>
Ok. So I read the articles. And really, there are more interesting things about the music. For example, this gem:
I imagine now knowing that special effort was applied to accomplish this will increase the appreciation I would I have for the game. But probably most revealing is this
Playing various Mario games over the years, it seemed that Mario had gone from some kind of rugged savior, to a fun plush toy. But embracing the notion that Mario is more then a cute character, and has some cool charm is also fitting considering the changes to have occurred to the Nintendo console over the years. The Nintendo 64 and GameCube seem more like toys. While the Wii isn't a "powerhouse" next to its brethren, I definately think its cool.
This is a key element for innovation. Recognizing where you're just copying and doing something about it forces changes that result in raising the quality bar. Overall, I see this as a good thing.
My instincts are telling me that Epic is in the wrong here, simply from the commentary. From the article... Epic VP Mark Rein said. "Often these requests are denied. It is important to note that this was not a decision on the merits of Silicon Knights' claims. We are confident that the evidence will show Silicon Knights breached its license with Epic Games and violated our copyrights and trade secrets." So Epic licenses the Unreal Engine to SK. SK doesn't get all the working elements of the engine per the contract, and meanwhile, Gears of War goes forward using the engine. SK and other licensees are scrambling to make something work from nothing, and Epic turns around and says its SK that violates the copyright and trade secrets? Sounds like deflection to me, just like their counter-claim.
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Maybe around $10 is all the vendor paid Microsoft for that license to begin with? I know there once was a time that the price charged was in that neighborhood, but this was a few years ago. More recently, the only evidence I have of this is some student licenses for software I got last year. - I think they were running between $7 and $10 per title for OSs, Office Suites, MS Project and Visio. Microsoft gives the vendor a massive deal. If you were paying the MSRP on the software, then the computers at the store would easily cost a few hundred more.
Wow. - Until reading this interview I wasn't even aware there was such a thing as Club Nintendo in other regions of the world. As a kid, I remember virtually drooling over the first Nintendo until I finally got one. I guess our "Club" really consisted of school. Many many hours spent talking about games with friends at school. Of course, there weren't any perks like what was mentioned about turning in UPCs for earning free stuff (ala kool-aid points I guess?), but still, since the earliest days of Nintendo there seemed to be a sense of community. It's ironic how as technology moves forward, and we find these ways to connect easier, we also seem to distance ourselves. It's like LAN parties. I can't remember the last time I hosted or went to a LAN party since now virtually everything is over the 'net (I know the LAN parties still exist, but for most people I have to assume participation in such events and the quantity of events is on the decline) Would something like 'Club Nintendo' be beneficial in the US? Not sure. Considering the Wii is still relatively difficult to get compared to the 360 or PS3, it's not like there is a compelling need for Nintendo to offer incentives. Maybe the whole notion is replaced at the retail level. For example, chain stores that for an annual fee give you discounts and pay out more for used games. On the other hand, there's something to be said for being able to get unique items that are typical of fan clubs that you can't get elsewhere (excluding ebay of course).
I have no idea what any of that means in real life, but it sounds enough like Tom Clancy writing that it must be true! Words like 'skewback', 'nacelle', 'cavitate' sound s-m-art.
It seems like WINE has been around forever. And here there is this minor update, yippee! What annoys me is this lack of 64 bit support. Late last year I finally switched completely (for the most part) to Linux due to Window's lack of 64bit support. Mind you, I was shocked and stunned (or is it the other way around) that I was getting better hardware support under Linux then Windows. But what has been disappointing is a need for some applications that do not exist under Linux, and where no comparable alternatives exist (Photoshop, Microsoft Visio, etc. - and no, Gimp is not comparable. Its not even comparable to Paint Shop Pro). For my college classes, I sometimes need to access systems that are in effect DRMed and only work under IE (that whole invasive ActiveX, junk up your system crud). Their solution to accessing this under Linux is to use WINE. Which, seems to be only 32 bit. I could have swore I read something awhile back suggesting they were going to be doing a 64 bit version this year. I take it this hasn't happened yet. In light of this slashdot article post, I've once again looked into WINE. I have recently discovered WineOn64Bit article on the WINE Wiki. Will shoot for giving that a try in the next few days. Has anyone else done this successfully? Any caveats not mentioned in that article? Or does anyone know anything about some native 64 bit WINE?
Yes, 4000 "small computer servers" times 2000 square feet equals 8 million square feet. But this is unlikely the arrangement. Consider instead a few buildings of data centers, each with 1 or more relatively small rooms. Within a room, there may be a few racks, all surrounded by walking space, and other perhipherals like AC units. Then outside of those rooms, more walking space for hallways. When you factor in all the human space and simple space for ventilation, and then cubicles and monitoring for support personnel it could average around 2000 square feet (40x50).
The same logic can be applied to costs.. $250 million / 4000 machines = $62.5K. Some of that is actual hardware, and software licenses. Some of that is ongoing support from their full time employees on staff to maintain the things.
The fact is, there are thousands of people that already are paying for demos. Whether in the form of discs included with the gaming magazines, disc exchanges for beta games, or premium memberships to download sites, there are several avenues where demos are effectively 'purchased', rather then had for free. But the article is implying that the content of the magazine would be available along with the demos. Essentially, everything digitized. To me, that seems like a good deal for only $2.50 a month if you're buying the magazine already. And, with it accessible over live, that's just a matter of convenience. No worries about it getting lost in themail, or the cd getting destroyed, or the news stand not having it in stock, and so forth. Small price to pay if you really really want the content or demos. -Krozy
No problems here! I had to cash in all the diamonds in my pocket just to purchase an iPhone. It's a zero sum game!
try 7 hours before losing all your cities! - I loved that game back in the day. Probably the longest time I've ever played a single game of that type. Even pacman I couldnt keep going for that long.
Ok, I'm curious about that video... - Was that a guy actually quitting, or just a prank of a duo walking into an open warehouse type place acting like they worked there.
I wonder what impact this will have on parents who bought their kids firefly mobile phones. On a related note, I wonder how we can find out what exact brands and subbrands and such are actually affected.
The monitor is the one thing that I see as a problem. Dust is minor, easily dealt with to prevent problems. Monitors can be a pain. I once had a system that sat in my apartment over christmas break during college. I get back, and the thing was frozen. Turned it on, and nothing worked. - Flipped it a few times and finally left it there, it finally came up after about 10 minutes.
BRAVO!
omg, i haven't visited that site in ages! They always had the best flash movies in tirades about the GMs.
Nah, they'll just restart UO2!