or possibly become the most popular console game in history
Hello! GTA San Andreas came out two weeks ago. Different systems and all, but considering that Sony have a near monopoly with the PS2, shouldn't a simple law of averages dictate that your above statement is a troll.
Disclaimer. I thought Halo was good. My only (minor) nag was the duplicated levels. However My favourite FPS is still red faction. Not that I'm a huge fan of FPS games in general. In short, I'm the kind of person that sits around getting continually frustrated for half an hour while 10 years olds with nothing better to do gloat over how much better they are than me in a fragmatch.
Back in my script kiddy days I changed all the rules.ini files in C&C red alert so that all allied infantry fired tanya's handguns and their tanks blasted tesla bolts.
Still managed to beat them with the soviets though. Man that game was one sided.
I'll Pay for Software, but I will not, cannot, should not, sign a draconian, restrictive, arrogant and possibly illegal EULA.
EULAs are the work of cowboy software makers who write shoddy software, force their way to a monopoly, and then use their monopoly to bend the law and your rights past the point of ductile return.
I don't mind paying for software As long as I know I'm getting a fair deal. I bought it. It's mine. I paid for it. I'll do as I please with it.
They're putting EULA on video games now. Appartently you automatically agree to the EULA contained in the manual, which is sealed in the box, the moment you open the box. This is exactly the kind of mentality that cowboy sellers use to fool you. My game, I bought it, etc... Games have been largely licening free for a long time(excluding PC games). I'd hate to see this change.
Linux/GNU/FOSS users will pay for kit. But they'll be reluctant to sign their rights, possibly to their entire systems, away to some souless legal departement in gods know where. Especially since most distros are so GPLed and restriction free.
As a European, I welcome a Bush win. It will bring about, more than any other factor, an even tighter European integration, which means more euros for me.
Well, the way I see it another fours years of Republican rule will probobly devestate the US, financially and socially, to such an extent that the republican party will be unelectable for years to come.
It's either that or even more Americans becoming intolerent, religious, tax free and/or just plain rude. Not that the French are more tactful mind.:E
"America Rules! Except the south." - Peter Griffin
This Jeff Merkey guy is the enemy within. The Traitorous heritic whos blasphemies against the kernel have lead to FUD, infighting and general dismay all around. To much 40k for me.
Maybe he was a plant. A double agent sent by outside interests to undermine the entire kernel. Perhaps others are involved!! The kernel is rotting from within!!! Tainted with patented and proprietry code!!!!!
I would therefore like to call a vote on Proposition 2.10. That a worldwide witch hunt be started to root out all tainted code and coders in the linux kernel, and that this witchhunt be as hysterical, bloddthirsty, predjudiced and damaging to the FOSS movement as a whole. Also you are either with us or against us and we shall start with Linus himself!!!! None shall be above suspicion!!! Long live the Kernel!!!!
I'd love to take a holiday in Antartica over the antartic winter. I'd have loads of time to work on projects, no noisy distractions and I'd finally have an excuse to stay indoors for six months!
I'd need some kind of net connection though. The slashdottings would keep me warm during the cold winter nights.
So the physical fact that green lasers and NVGs can be used to detect explosives, of resideue, (or soap), is now a patentable process.
Never mind all that stuff about physical phenomena being unpatentable. Here at the USPTO we grant with prejudice to trifling things like gross obviousness, unoriginality and indeed patentablity itself.
Applicants for patents on Earth, Air, Fire and Water are now currently being considered.
P.S. If anyone, including all you foreigners, doesn't like it, be prepared for our lawyers to WIPO you into povert^H^H^H^H^H^Hsubmission.
It wasn't just Gates/MicroSoft. Any number of players could have gone on to form a monopoly in the PC OS market, and we'd still be suffering consequences.
So is computer software industry naturally monopoly friendly?
This patent seems to cover every computer program ever written.
Adjusting data values? Dynamically? Isn't that what all of our computers are doing right now!!
Enforcing valid combinations? If else anyone. Sounds like input checking to me.
Don't let all that remote stuff fool you. Remember teletypes. Remember how far away they were.
And of course user input. Well I think MOST programs have SOME kind of user input.:E
I mean what happens in 3482 when some archeologist digs this trash up and asserts that MicroSoft (still around) owns all computer programs in the world, becasue of this patent (Still enforceable due to constant patent extensions by lobby groups).
In terms of the amount of man-hours, resources, user time, and the complexity of it, the linux kernel is probobly worth about as much as the complete blueprints of the Airbus A380.
Strange to think of it in these terms, but when you think about it the kernel is at this point at the same, or a greater level of complexity than an aircraft design, and is probobly in use by more people than the average aircraft model at this point. What is the current population of the republic of linux these days anyway?
I've found the dual analog, a.k.a. timesplitters method, to be better than the keyboard and mouse in FPS games. I find it make straffing much easier. While I await flames on this comment, I'd encourage PC FPS players to try it. There are dual analog joypads out for PC now. it's a little trying at first, but I think it offers better movement control than KB and mouse, if not as much aiming precision as you'd like.
It also avoids the dreaded, out of mousemat overflow found with most KB and mouse combos,:E
I'm going to give my two cents on this issue, because I think there's a lot of FUD surrounding this issue.
When I was six I got a NES for christmas. I've been playing games ever since.
As long as I've been playing video games, I've enjoyed myself enormously. As long as I've been playing video games, people have been telling me I'm addicted and should stop playing them and do something else.
Quite frankly, I'm sick of this sentiment. Am I addicted to video games? Well, I don't get the shakes if I haven't played a game for a week. I don't spend vast amounts of cash on games, I prefer to spend less on good games. Can I give up games? I have given them up, for large periods. Did I go 'back on' them? Yes! I was bored and they were entertaining.
If I am addicted to video games, then others are addicted to soccer and soap operas. What's the difference between playing, watching and supporting soccer for 20 hours a week and playing video games 20 hours a week? Does simply enjoying something make you addicted? Or is it only when that something is disapproved of.
Have video games affected me? Hell yes! I'm a better person because of them.
Wait? Back up OMF. You say that violent, blood ridden, manic video games have made you a better person? No! That view is the typical sterotype made by people who don't play games, yet feel that they know enough about them to critisise.
I play RPG(Role Playing Games), platformers, strategy games. A lot of the games I play have stories, stories with morals. And a hell of a lot more morals than you'll find in 90% of TV and movies. Are all games like this? No, of course not. But a great many are. People seem to only consider the negatives about the effects of games on people. There are a large number of positives. No-one who plays through Final Fantasy VII can come out the other side unaffected, usually for the better. All of my friends who are into video games, are usually more thoughtful, more insightful, more tolerent and more understanding people than those who spend their time on 'normal' hobbies. I'd say that avid game players are actually better members of society than 'normal' people.
Of course most of the public have never heard of an RPG. All they hear about is Doom and columbine, usually in the same sentence. The industry is to blame for this as well. Their advertisements are usually along the same lines ass crass hollywood trailers, appealing to the LCD. In recent years, the idustry has been throwing out a lot of games based solely on graphics, sound and other fluff, hoping that the initial impression will be enough to get people to fork over their cash. It is. And the best impressions are usually made by games that feature guns,cars and sex. just like the movies really. But ask anyone who's into games what they think of these titles, and they'll tell you where to shove them. Which is not to say that all such titles are poor. Or that all other genres are superior. It's all down to taste, and my tastes are not what sterotypers think.
I'm not a 'gamer'. A 'gamer' is to a hardcore video game player, what a script-kiddie is to a hacker. Someone who's only scratched the surface, is in it for the glamour, and ultimately appreciates very little about games and will only dip into the hobby now and again. The casual gamer is the one that spends $60 on a bad to mediocre FPS or racing game, and is satisfied with their purchase. I'm a game player. I look for quality, because games are my hobby. I'm not junkie, but I do binge when I want to. I've played violent games, I've liked violent games, but I, and other game enthusiasts, are less violent than the public at large. I spend money on games, but I never spend over my budget.
And I never criticise other people for their choice of lifestyle. My chastisement at the hands of the ignorent has taught me to never run down other people interests, especially when I'm ignorent of them.
a) Where is the Prototype supplied with this patent and b) Does it implement every possible implementation of the device/process/method as claimed in the patent and c) As the patent has been freely submitted to a public patent office am I not entitled to view, freely and unrestrictedly, all blueprints/designs/source code describing the device/process/method
I think this implementation satisfies a) and c) OK, but where would I get with this if I applied it to say MS Patents?
The following was an email sent to all eircom customers(or at least everyone with a @eircom.net address
From: service.announcements@eircom.net
Dear Customer,
As part of our ongoing commitment to customer service we would like to provide you with the following important information on Modem Hi-Jacking.
Modem Hi-Jacking occurs when a web site you visit purposely disconnects you from your Internet Service Provider and reconnects you to the Internet through an international or premium rate number, which may result in increased call charges.
Everyone using the Internet should be aware of this risk. It is a global issue and is not confined to Ireland. eircom net provides a safe surfing guide, which may help you reduce the risk of Modem Hi-Jacking.
Please be aware that there are also software and hardware solutions available, which may reduce the risk of Modem Hi-Jacking. Our safe surfing guide provides some examples of these solutions. These are purely examples and do not represent an exhaustive list. eircom net is not in a position to recommend a particular solution. Customers will need to determine which one best suits their particular needs.
For further advice please visit our safe surfing guide at http://www.eircom.net/safesurfing
Kind Regards,
Fintan Lawler
Managing Director, eircom net
This mail sounds a lot like eircom covering their own asses to me. They've regularly overcharged the numbers that dialers are calling, at over 3 a minute. I was almost caught by one of these dialer programs myself a few years back. I logged off, left the PC to get something to eat, and then a very wierd sound started coming out of the modem. A big dialing +475 5746353735373 or something appeared on the status connection. Got freaked out at the time. Virus scanner couldn't find the dialer, so I had to desperatly altavista for an answer(didn't know about google yet). I fixed the issue but low and behold, the next bill had a big IR£3 charge for the number that the dialer connected to for about 20 seconds.
This scam has been know for a long time, radio stations are always on about it every few months. Maybe the guy on the inside got caught, because there HAD to be one unless eircom just enjoyed grossly overcharging customers. Oh well. Monopoly is as monopoly does. Still they're giving a free broadband trial now... Hmmm I wonder if I should NO CARRIER
Yet how many loopholes will be present to allow law inforcement to install keystroke loggers and port sniffers with any sort of warrent from a judge.
No doubt they'll justify any blatent breach of personal rights with a big 'fight terror' or 'freedom police' sticker and a grin.
I'll bet some spyware companies are already passing on data they collect in 'suspect' countries to higher powers. I mean, if there are spyware infected PCs in say... France, don't you think that greasy agents are taking advantage of that now. Expect exemptions, official or otherwise, for spyware companies that jump into bed with enforcers looking to get around the law.
This maybe true for many games, but one of the creators of GTA recently said when talking about San Andreas here
The danger is currently the storage medium (DVD), and one we thing we're all praying for in the next round of hardware is that they don't just go, 'It's DVD again'. We've done some clever stuff with compressing it, but we were virtually full on the disc with Vice City - this time we're overfilling the disc to the max."
Games which require more media content will need bigger discs, and I don't think anyone wants to go back to the days of 4 disc games. I was always losing one of the middle discs.
Another reason for this move by Sony is that blu-ray on the PS3 may well increase blu-ray proliferation. I can say honestly that the inclusion of DVD on PS2 _seriously_ aided the uptake of the format. If PS3 supports blu-ray expect to see an unusually quick uptake of high density DVDs, paticularly those aimed at the 10-35 age group.
My only worry about this is that bigger and more impressive media will lead to an even lower signal to noise ratio on gamestore shelves, with companies churing out even more linear, single play, interactive movies. I guess ZSNES may be around for a while yet.
Personally, I want a handheld console with a screen the size of the old gamboy. I'm sick of people calling for smaller and smaller handhelds. This means ever more fiddly buttons, eye wincingly small sprites and crappier tinnier sound.
If you want a micro console, get a game and watch. if you want a good console, go 150% larger than the SP and battery life be danmed!!!!
The problem with computer security, with windows PCs in paticular, is that the OS administration is still designed with the expectation that the PC resides on a token ring network with no net connection, or one that goes through a Unix mainframe. Currently all operating systems seem to expect a sysadm to be a phone call away in order to be updated, patched and administered.
This is clearly unrealistic. We already know that this expectation coupled with the obvious lack of systems administrators for lone PCs, has lead to a great many slashdotter being the de facto sysadm for their friends and family. Clearly this solution falls on its ass when faced with PC owners with no such tech head to call upon. These PCs are probobly doomed to become spam zombies or to take part in DDOS attacks.
It's 2004, not 1984. Most PCs will likely never even be looked at by someone who can admisister them. I'm not just talking about patching and updating virus scanners. What about simple tasks like defragging? Does anyone really think that Aunt Tilly will defrag her PC? What about firmware updates?
At this point PCs should support self administration and self diagnostic and repair. Before you laugh me out off the board, I know that feeble attempts at this have failed miserablely(Windows autoupdate, system restore). But in the age where four year olds, business students, lawyers and Aunt Tillies everywhere are using broadband connected PCs and haven't a clue how to keep them up and running, it's either MUCh better selfadm or you and I will have to become fulltime sysadms.
Remember open source alone does not lead to greater success. Let us not forget the Great BitKeeper/CVS Question.
Open source programmers shouldn't just rely on their GPL licences to keep them afloat. Although a lot of people do place more trust in GPL'ed software, that doesn't mean that a closed source app won't leap out of nowhere with wow new features and undermine your user base.
This however gives no right for KDE to shear on 3GHz PCs. Innovate, but no bloat please.
Hollywood's view on copyright is pretty unrealistic in my opinion.
When a film is released in cinemas, a large degree of copyright control can be expected by the copyright owner. They can effectivly control the distrobution and showing of the film.
When the film is released on video and DVD, a large degree of copyright control is lost to the holder. They can only loosly control the distrobution and showing of the film. People can buy films and view them whereever they please, and give the DVD to whoever they please. Maybe even copy.
However when a copyright holder makes the decision to broadcast a film to millions of people, over the airwaves, potentially to every human in the contry, and in future perhaps the world, it is fair to say they have abandoned all pretence to copyright control. They have in effect duplicated the film about as many times as it can be duplicated, almost infinitly, and in so doing have made a laughing stock of their grounds of complete control over their copyright.
If you want to use your copyright to broadcast your film all over the airwaves, fine. Just don't expect to keep the same control over it as you did the day before. If you blast your movie into my box, I've got it and possession is nine tenths of the law mate.
It's like an author emailing his book to every inbox on the globe and then complaining when people start printing it out or reading it on their PDAs. Rubbish.
Hollywood has lost its monopoly on the reproduction of media content. Tought luck. Evolve or die, dinasaurs. Don't drag more innovative compnaies like TiVo down with you. the situation in the UK is a little different. Sky+ actually encourages viewers to record TV content. Maybe it's the lack of a Hollywood there?
Slashdot Mirror
or possibly become the most popular console game in history
Hello! GTA San Andreas came out two weeks ago. Different systems and all, but considering that Sony have a near monopoly with the PS2, shouldn't a simple law of averages dictate that your above statement is a troll.
Disclaimer.
I thought Halo was good. My only (minor) nag was the duplicated levels. However My favourite FPS is still red faction. Not that I'm a huge fan of FPS games in general. In short, I'm the kind of person that sits around getting continually frustrated for half an hour while 10 years olds with nothing better to do gloat over how much better they are than me in a fragmatch.
Hold on a mo!
Remember, Here at the USPTO we grant patents without predjudice to trifling things like originality, prior art, or indeed patentability itself!
Have a very merry, litigous season!
Back in my script kiddy days I changed all the rules.ini files in C&C red alert so that all allied infantry fired tanya's handguns and their tanks blasted tesla bolts.
Still managed to beat them with the soviets though. Man that game was one sided.
Before the threads about Linux/Open Source not being a viable business model start(Balmer, this means you), please take a peek at this link
I'll Pay for Software, but I will not, cannot, should not, sign a draconian, restrictive, arrogant and possibly illegal EULA.
EULAs are the work of cowboy software makers who write shoddy software, force their way to a monopoly, and then use their monopoly to bend the law and your rights past the point of ductile return.
I don't mind paying for software As long as I know I'm getting a fair deal.
I bought it. It's mine. I paid for it. I'll do as I please with it.
They're putting EULA on video games now. Appartently you automatically agree to the EULA contained in the manual, which is sealed in the box, the moment you open the box. This is exactly the kind of mentality that cowboy sellers use to fool you. My game, I bought it, etc... Games have been largely licening free for a long time(excluding PC games). I'd hate to see this change.
Linux/GNU/FOSS users will pay for kit. But they'll be reluctant to sign their rights, possibly to their entire systems, away to some souless legal departement in gods know where. Especially since most distros are so GPLed and restriction free.
As a European, I welcome a Bush win. It will bring about, more than any other factor, an even tighter European integration, which means more euros for me.
:E
Well, the way I see it another fours years of Republican rule will probobly devestate the US, financially and socially, to such an extent that the republican party will be unelectable for years to come.
It's either that or even more Americans becoming intolerent, religious, tax free and/or just plain rude. Not that the French are more tactful mind.
"America Rules! Except the south." - Peter Griffin
This Jeff Merkey guy is the enemy within. The Traitorous heritic whos blasphemies against the kernel have lead to FUD, infighting and general dismay all around. To much 40k for me.
Maybe he was a plant. A double agent sent by outside interests to undermine the entire kernel. Perhaps others are involved!! The kernel is rotting from within!!! Tainted with patented and proprietry code!!!!!
I would therefore like to call a vote on Proposition 2.10. That a worldwide witch hunt be started to root out all tainted code and coders in the linux kernel, and that this witchhunt be as hysterical, bloddthirsty, predjudiced and damaging to the FOSS movement as a whole. Also you are either with us or against us and we shall start with Linus himself!!!! None shall be above suspicion!!! Long live the Kernel!!!!
Now if you'll all form an orderly queue...
I'd love to take a holiday in Antartica over the antartic winter. I'd have loads of time to work on projects, no noisy distractions and I'd finally have an excuse to stay indoors for six months!
I'd need some kind of net connection though. The slashdottings would keep me warm during the cold winter nights.
The only major effect of this will be the mass blacklisting of emails from online gambling sites.
How will that be a bad thing?
I would rather go toothless than have my teeth broadcast my whereabouts to snoopers, offical or otherwise.
...That this guy will GPL this software rather than start up a private company.
Then maybe I'd get in in the next version of fedora.
I'm so sick of *Tex.
*sigh*
So the physical fact that green lasers and NVGs can be used to detect explosives, of resideue, (or soap), is now a patentable process.
Never mind all that stuff about physical phenomena being unpatentable. Here at the USPTO we grant with prejudice to trifling things like gross obviousness, unoriginality and indeed patentablity itself.
Applicants for patents on Earth, Air, Fire and Water are now currently being considered.
P.S.
If anyone, including all you foreigners, doesn't like it, be prepared for our lawyers to WIPO you into povert^H^H^H^H^H^Hsubmission.
It wasn't just Gates/MicroSoft. Any number of players could have gone on to form a monopoly in the PC OS market, and we'd still be suffering consequences.
So is computer software industry naturally monopoly friendly?
This patent seems to cover every computer program ever written.
:E
Adjusting data values? Dynamically? Isn't that what all of our computers are doing right now!!
Enforcing valid combinations? If else anyone. Sounds like input checking to me.
Don't let all that remote stuff fool you. Remember teletypes. Remember how far away they were.
And of course user input. Well I think MOST programs have SOME kind of user input.
I mean what happens in 3482 when some archeologist digs this trash up and asserts that MicroSoft (still around) owns all computer programs in the world, becasue of this patent (Still enforceable due to constant patent extensions by lobby groups).
In terms of the amount of man-hours, resources, user time, and the complexity of it, the linux kernel is probobly worth about as much as the complete blueprints of the Airbus A380.
Strange to think of it in these terms, but when you think about it the kernel is at this point at the same, or a greater level of complexity than an aircraft design, and is probobly in use by more people than the average aircraft model at this point. What is the current population of the republic of linux these days anyway?
I've found the dual analog, a.k.a. timesplitters method, to be better than the keyboard and mouse in FPS games. I find it make straffing much easier. While I await flames on this comment, I'd encourage PC FPS players to try it. There are dual analog joypads out for PC now. it's a little trying at first, but I think it offers better movement control than KB and mouse, if not as much aiming precision as you'd like.
:E
It also avoids the dreaded, out of mousemat overflow found with most KB and mouse combos,
I'm going to give my two cents on this issue, because I think there's a lot of FUD surrounding this issue.
When I was six I got a NES for christmas.
I've been playing games ever since.
As long as I've been playing video games, I've enjoyed myself enormously.
As long as I've been playing video games, people have been telling me I'm addicted and should stop playing them and do something else.
Quite frankly, I'm sick of this sentiment. Am I addicted to video games? Well, I don't get the shakes if I haven't played a game for a week. I don't spend vast amounts of cash on games, I prefer to spend less on good games. Can I give up games? I have given them up, for large periods. Did I go 'back on' them? Yes! I was bored and they were entertaining.
If I am addicted to video games, then others are addicted to soccer and soap operas. What's the difference between playing, watching and supporting soccer for 20 hours a week and playing video games 20 hours a week? Does simply enjoying something make you addicted? Or is it only when that something is disapproved of.
Have video games affected me?
Hell yes!
I'm a better person because of them.
Wait? Back up OMF. You say that violent, blood ridden, manic video games have made you a better person? No! That view is the typical sterotype made by people who don't play games, yet feel that they know enough about them to critisise.
I play RPG(Role Playing Games), platformers, strategy games. A lot of the games I play have stories, stories with morals. And a hell of a lot more morals than you'll find in 90% of TV and movies. Are all games like this? No, of course not. But a great many are. People seem to only consider the negatives about the effects of games on people. There are a large number of positives. No-one who plays through Final Fantasy VII can come out the other side unaffected, usually for the better. All of my friends who are into video games, are usually more thoughtful, more insightful, more tolerent and more understanding people than those who spend their time on 'normal' hobbies. I'd say that avid game players are actually better members of society than 'normal' people.
Of course most of the public have never heard of an RPG. All they hear about is Doom and columbine, usually in the same sentence. The industry is to blame for this as well. Their advertisements are usually along the same lines ass crass hollywood trailers, appealing to the LCD. In recent years, the idustry has been throwing out a lot of games based solely on graphics, sound and other fluff, hoping that the initial impression will be enough to get people to fork over their cash. It is. And the best impressions are usually made by games that feature guns,cars and sex. just like the movies really. But ask anyone who's into games what they think of these titles, and they'll tell you where to shove them. Which is not to say that all such titles are poor. Or that all other genres are superior. It's all down to taste, and my tastes are not what sterotypers think.
I'm not a 'gamer'. A 'gamer' is to a hardcore video game player, what a script-kiddie is to a hacker. Someone who's only scratched the surface, is in it for the glamour, and ultimately appreciates very little about games and will only dip into the hobby now and again. The casual gamer is the one that spends $60 on a bad to mediocre FPS or racing game, and is satisfied with their purchase. I'm a game player. I look for quality, because games are my hobby. I'm not junkie, but I do binge when I want to. I've played violent games, I've liked violent games, but I, and other game enthusiasts, are less violent than the public at large. I spend money on games, but I never spend over my budget.
And I never criticise other people for their choice of lifestyle. My chastisement at the hands of the ignorent has taught me to never run down other people interests, especially when I'm ignorent of them.
I play video games. Don't tread on me.
a) Where is the Prototype supplied with this patent
and
b) Does it implement every possible implementation of the device/process/method as claimed in the patent
and
c) As the patent has been freely submitted to a public patent office am I not entitled to view, freely and unrestrictedly, all blueprints/designs/source code describing the device/process/method
I think this implementation satisfies a) and c) OK, but where would I get with this if I applied it to say MS Patents?
The following was an email sent to all eircom customers(or at least everyone with a @eircom.net address
From: service.announcements@eircom.net
Dear Customer,
As part of our ongoing commitment to customer service we would like to
provide you with the following important information on Modem
Hi-Jacking.
Modem Hi-Jacking occurs when a web site you visit purposely disconnects
you from your Internet Service Provider and reconnects you to the
Internet through an international or premium rate number, which may
result in increased call charges.
Everyone using the Internet should be aware of this risk. It is a
global issue and is not confined to Ireland. eircom net provides a safe
surfing guide, which may help you reduce the risk of Modem Hi-Jacking.
Please be aware that there are also software and hardware solutions
available, which may reduce the risk of Modem Hi-Jacking. Our safe
surfing guide provides some examples of these solutions. These are
purely examples and do not represent an exhaustive list. eircom net is
not in a position to recommend a particular solution. Customers will
need to determine which one best suits their particular needs.
For further advice please visit our safe surfing guide at
http://www.eircom.net/safesurfing
Kind Regards,
Fintan Lawler
Managing Director, eircom net
This mail sounds a lot like eircom covering their own asses to me. They've regularly overcharged the numbers that dialers are calling, at over 3 a minute. I was almost caught by one of these dialer programs myself a few years back.
I logged off, left the PC to get something to eat, and then a very wierd sound started coming out of the modem. A big dialing +475 5746353735373 or something appeared on the status connection. Got freaked out at the time. Virus scanner couldn't find the dialer, so I had to desperatly altavista for an answer(didn't know about google yet). I fixed the issue but low and behold, the next bill had a big IR£3 charge for the number that the dialer connected to for about 20 seconds.
This scam has been know for a long time, radio stations are always on about it every few months. Maybe the guy on the inside got caught, because there HAD to be one unless eircom just enjoyed grossly overcharging customers. Oh well. Monopoly is as monopoly does. Still they're giving a free broadband trial now... Hmmm I wonder if I should NO CARRIER
Yet how many loopholes will be present to allow law inforcement to install keystroke loggers and port sniffers with any sort of warrent from a judge.
No doubt they'll justify any blatent breach of personal rights with a big 'fight terror' or 'freedom police' sticker and a grin.
I'll bet some spyware companies are already passing on data they collect in 'suspect' countries to higher powers. I mean, if there are spyware infected PCs in say... France, don't you think that greasy agents are taking advantage of that now. Expect exemptions, official or otherwise, for spyware companies that jump into bed with enforcers looking to get around the law.
This maybe true for many games, but one of the creators of GTA recently said when talking about San Andreas here
The danger is currently the storage medium (DVD), and one we thing we're all praying for in the next round of hardware is that they don't just go, 'It's DVD again'. We've done some clever stuff with compressing it, but we were virtually full on the disc with Vice City - this time we're overfilling the disc to the max."
Games which require more media content will need bigger discs, and I don't think anyone wants to go back to the days of 4 disc games. I was always losing one of the middle discs.
Another reason for this move by Sony is that blu-ray on the PS3 may well increase blu-ray proliferation. I can say honestly that the inclusion of DVD on PS2 _seriously_ aided the uptake of the format. If PS3 supports blu-ray expect to see an unusually quick uptake of high density DVDs, paticularly those aimed at the 10-35 age group.
My only worry about this is that bigger and more impressive media will lead to an even lower signal to noise ratio on gamestore shelves, with companies churing out even more linear, single play, interactive movies. I guess ZSNES may be around for a while yet.
Personally, I want a handheld console with a screen the size of the old gamboy. I'm sick of people calling for smaller and smaller handhelds. This means ever more fiddly buttons, eye wincingly small sprites and crappier tinnier sound.
If you want a micro console, get a game and watch. if you want a good console, go 150% larger than the SP and battery life be danmed!!!!
The problem with computer security, with windows PCs in paticular, is that the OS administration is still designed with the expectation that the PC resides on a token ring network with no net connection, or one that goes through a Unix mainframe. Currently all operating systems seem to expect a sysadm to be a phone call away in order to be updated, patched and administered.
This is clearly unrealistic. We already know that this expectation coupled with the obvious lack of systems administrators for lone PCs, has lead to a great many slashdotter being the de facto sysadm for their friends and family. Clearly this solution falls on its ass when faced with PC owners with no such tech head to call upon. These PCs are probobly doomed to become spam zombies or to take part in DDOS attacks.
It's 2004, not 1984. Most PCs will likely never even be looked at by someone who can admisister them. I'm not just talking about patching and updating virus scanners. What about simple tasks like defragging? Does anyone really think that Aunt Tilly will defrag her PC? What about firmware updates?
At this point PCs should support self administration and self diagnostic and repair. Before you laugh me out off the board, I know that feeble attempts at this have failed miserablely(Windows autoupdate, system restore). But in the age where four year olds, business students, lawyers and Aunt Tillies everywhere are using broadband connected PCs and haven't a clue how to keep them up and running, it's either MUCh better selfadm or you and I will have to become fulltime sysadms.
Remember open source alone does not lead to greater success. Let us not forget the Great BitKeeper/CVS Question.
Open source programmers shouldn't just rely on their GPL licences to keep them afloat. Although a lot of people do place more trust in GPL'ed software, that doesn't mean that a closed source app won't leap out of nowhere with wow new features and undermine your user base.
This however gives no right for KDE to shear on 3GHz PCs. Innovate, but no bloat please.
Hollywood's view on copyright is pretty unrealistic in my opinion.
When a film is released in cinemas, a large degree of copyright control can be expected by the copyright owner. They can effectivly control the distrobution and showing of the film.
When the film is released on video and DVD, a large degree of copyright control is lost to the holder. They can only loosly control the distrobution and showing of the film. People can buy films and view them whereever they please, and give the DVD to whoever they please. Maybe even copy.
However when a copyright holder makes the decision to broadcast a film to millions of people, over the airwaves, potentially to every human in the contry, and in future perhaps the world, it is fair to say they have abandoned all pretence to copyright control. They have in effect duplicated the film about as many times as it can be duplicated, almost infinitly, and in so doing have made a laughing stock of their grounds of complete control over their copyright.
If you want to use your copyright to broadcast your film all over the airwaves, fine. Just don't expect to keep the same control over it as you did the day before. If you blast your movie into my box, I've got it and possession is nine tenths of the law mate.
It's like an author emailing his book to every inbox on the globe and then complaining when people start printing it out or reading it on their PDAs. Rubbish.
Hollywood has lost its monopoly on the reproduction of media content. Tought luck. Evolve or die, dinasaurs. Don't drag more innovative compnaies like TiVo down with you. the situation in the UK is a little different. Sky+ actually encourages viewers to record TV content. Maybe it's the lack of a Hollywood there?