Slashdot Mirror


User: Steveftoth

Steveftoth's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
1,016
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 1,016

  1. Re:Signing all software? on New Chips Keep Tight Rein on Consumers · · Score: 1
    Everyone who uses computers should become computer savvy people.

    I don't believe in your elitist propaganda. All people who use computers should be required to understand every nuance of how they work.

  2. Signing all software? on New Chips Keep Tight Rein on Consumers · · Score: 1

    What you are really asking for is a way to prevent auto-installs. So that in order to install a program you would have to sign every binary? That won't work as spyware will juts integerate itself into a massive binary. So instead of installing like 5 programs when you want to install something you would install one, but it would integrate the functions of all five. 3 of which are spyware. Doesn't really solve the problem and makes it hard to install the software. And if it makes it hard to install people won't do it.

    What if you had to type in your security code everytime you install something? Comptuter savvy people MIGHT not mind it but normal people would, they will forget it or lose it or just be pissed off by it. Computers should help make things easier.

  3. Hi! Sony, can I publish games for $10? on A More In Depth Look at PS/2 Linux · · Score: 3, Insightful

    First of all it is possiable to take a game over to a friends house. There are multiple ways to do this, first is to take the HD and all with you. Secondly (and easier) you can write a game that runs only off the memeory card. And just take the linux DVD and your memeory card.

    Sony does not want to start publishing crappy games at $10 a pop. They would make no money from this and worst of all it could mess up the playstation brand. All the games published today go through a process, that every game must meet certain minimum requirements. You know, like not trashing your memory card, not crashing every 5 minutes, etc. If they just let you publish a disc that process could be totatly circumvented. Not to mention that you could just turn around and start selling your 'hobby' games for 30+ dollars, cutting them out of profits. Don't forget that it costs a lot more per disc to make one disc then a thousand.

    I agree that it would be cool, but this is their platform. It is not open and expecting them to open it is silly.

  4. Craig. on Craig Silverstein answers your Google questions · · Score: 1

    Not that you will read this, but Craig added that question himself. Shows humor and stuff.

  5. That's true too. on MP3 for Gameboy · · Score: 2

    I guess that I should fill in my theroy of why the GB is so damn popular.

    The main reason I think is that it has had the best games, year in and year out. Since the original GB, it has always had good games.

    But the second reason that it's so popular is that it doesn't require any batteries compared to any other portable. The new GBA only needs 2 AA. The original GB needed 4 AA. With the newer models of GB only neededing 2 AAA.

    Third reason is that they have kept the price of the platform down, the price of the GB is much lower then many other systems. This help because if you break it (dropping it , spilling something on it,etc...), it's cheap to get another. Which is a big thing, all the other platforms were much more expensive then the GB ever was.

    Lastly, the backwards compatability helps people upgrade. If it weren't for that, I think that the adoption rate for the GBA (and GBC) would be much lower since many people still have an old copy of tetris or mario for the GB they want to play. And don't forget the MASSIVE popularity of the Pokemon games. They still haven't ported over all the Pokemon stuff yet to the GBA. (gotta catch them all, right?)

  6. They are not the last.... on MP3 for Gameboy · · Score: 2

    Nintendo is the only portable system around because they have a monopoly on it. Period. They have crushed every other attempt at creating a portable gaming platform.
    Neo Geo Pocket ... dead.
    Sega Game gear ... dead.
    Tiger Game.com?... what?
    Lynx? ... oh yeah, like Atari had a chance.
    Nintendo has ruthlessly demolished every other portable gaming platform. Not that this is a bad thing, the system is great and the games are fun. The reason that they have had such a monopoly is the backwards compatability.

    Did you know that the last Zelda game(s) (Oracle and Seasons) had special features that you could only unlock if you play them on GBA? They are both GBColor games, but have special shops that you can only get to on GBA. They are all about encouraging you to upgrade.

  7. Just the other day... on MP3 for Gameboy · · Score: 2

    I was in Fry's Electronics and I saw that they have a radio addon for the GBA. It plugs into the device and lets you play the radio while the game is playing and uses the battery of the GBA. Neat, but not that amazing. But unlike this, you can pick it up at Fry's tonight!

  8. Why do more work then... on Coursey on Palladium · · Score: 1

    Sony has this market down. You got to give it to them with respect to that because they have just enough encryption to make it hard to break, without costing too much to their production. Right now, nobody can burn a DVD or CD that will boot a stock PS2 except Sony. Same thing with MS only switch names of products and companies. Difference is that Sony, seems to have a cheaper system (implementation wise) then the X-Box does. This is because Sony designed the whole system from the ground up rather then using off the shelf components.
    Advantage Sony. Yes, it has been hacked and you can get a mod chip that will cause your PS2 to play other region and copied games. However, it is hard enough to modify it, that only a small percentage of people will actually do it.

    While the X-Box's system is more complex and harder to break, it also means that it's more expensive to produce and it's less flexiable.
    The ps-one had make different motherboard designs. Probably, the designs were different in order to save on cost, however also consider the fact that every motherboard had a slightly different bios and place to solder the mod-chips in. So every revision of the motherboard sent the mod-chip makers back to the labs to re-create the mod-chips to work with the newer boards. Does the X-Box have this kind of flexibility? I don't have the answer to that question, but it seems like once the X-Box is cracked, it may stay cracked.

  9. Trolling at its best. on Coursey on Palladium · · Score: 2, Informative

    First of all, this technology COULD be used to take over TCP/IP since all code has to be signed by MS. Probably not the IP part, since all the routers need to be able to understand that and MS hasn't decided to make a line of routers (yet). But definatatly the TCP part since the routers don't determine things like sequence numbers or the checksum algorithm.
    Don't forget that they can now force download and install of any software they want thanks to their new eula in Media Player.
    Secondly, any virus that travels via script will still be able to inflitrate your system. That's how scripts work, you click on them, and then they run in the 'signed' interpreter. You're saying that all .cmd, .bat files have to be signed with microsoft tools. Thus leaving all users who don't pay for the MS signing tools unable to use their own computers.
    I'd say that anyone who is slightly tech-savvy is capable of writing a bat file.
    Don't forget about Office viruses either, a document can't be signed either, and if they are then it will be have to be eazy.

  10. That's what.. on Snort Creator Makes Good · · Score: 1

    that's what sendmail does as well isn't it? That program is god awful to use, but if you have their 'tools' then it is supposed to be much ,much more managable.

  11. Get a playstation, you only on One Billion Computers Sold Worldwide · · Score: 1

    Game consoles only need to be upgraded every 5 years.

  12. Come on now... on No Love From Microsoft For Xbox Modders · · Score: 1

    Stallman, stop posting as an AC, how many times have I told you, no flaming until after midnight!

  13. Re:It's a portable desktop... on Flip-Pad Voyager: Dual-screen Laptop · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So you're the one video taping me from across the alley.

  14. Just put it in the .... on Atari's 30th Anniversary · · Score: 1

    just put NWN play cd in the Atari CD-ROM drive, it plays great! 2-bit color, 50x40 resolution. I mean the cdrom drive had a whole 8k of ram at half speed!

  15. It's a portable desktop... on Flip-Pad Voyager: Dual-screen Laptop · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Personally I don't want a laptop, I want a computer that I can take from place to place without having to unplug 50 things, only like 3, mouse, power and network ( and have the option for wireless network ). If you are constantly moving around or like to put your computer on your lap then this is probably not a good computer for you, but if you want a computer that you can take to a place and sit it down for like a week straight then this is a good buy.

    My only concern with it is the durability, it doesn't look too sturdy. I'd want to see it in person before buying one.

  16. Re:This quote from The Reg caught me... on No Love From Microsoft For Xbox Modders · · Score: 1

    Are you talking about all media or just video games? Should video games have different laws with respect to copyright then other forms of media?

    It's a valid question because that's what we are really talking about here. The difference here is that it's much easier to make a new print in DVD as compared to film of a movie or reprint a book then it is to port an old video game over to a new system or remake the original system with new technology so that it is cheaper to mass produce.

    Right now copyright is too long and I think that most people would agree with that. Copyright is great, but there has to be limits, and 10-15 years is way too short.

  17. This is a neat idea. on Improv Animation as an Art Form? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Unfortunatly all these /. people don't any imagination. OH that's a stupid idea, why would you ever want to render a movie in real-time?

    The point isn't to render a movie, the point is to use your computer like a canvas to paint on. Only instead of making a picture, you make an animation. Maybe you use one computer (or many) to control it and then feed all the control data to a main computer system that renders it in real time for the audience to see it. Maybe you've got 10 people controling monsters, beasts, and other imaginary characters, with people doing their voices (and probably also controlling the facial animations at the same time. Think like how TV is done, with make camera men , a control booth that splices all the sound together from different sources, the guy who's job it is to overlay different titles on the screen and do transistions between show segments. Just replace the 'real' life actors with computer generated ones.

    It would be easier to do a cartoon style show because people prefer actual actors to computer generated ones.

  18. Just because nobody cares... on No Love From Microsoft For Xbox Modders · · Score: 1

    Just because nobody cares, doesn't make it right. I don't care if you copy and play all those old games, maybe you are even doing them a service. Just don't go around spouting off about how it's your right to do so.
    It's true that some of the games that MAME plays would not even exist anymore if it wasn't for MAME. But some of the games it plays, like the ones from the later part of the 90's, are still in arcades and still exist. It's just a 'grey' area and that's only cause nobody cares. If people cared, then it would be wrong to copy the games because you are stealing people's content.
    I guess that it come down to the question if you steal something and nobody cares, did you really steal anything at all?

  19. That doesn't stop Sony. on No Love From Microsoft For Xbox Modders · · Score: 1

    Sony does the same thing with their console.

    Don't think that MS is special in that regard. All the mod chips for Sony have gotten their warnings too. Though I think that you can still get them. Last I checked it only required you to solder like 26 wires to your ps2 in order to get a mod chip to work. The original ps one mod chip only needed like 3 or 4.(depending on the model)

    Regardless, MS was silly in making a PC into a console because well, you know that someone, somewhere is going to try and run linux, windows, *bsd, qnx, or whatever OS they want on it. It is only a matter of time before they do it.

    They did get BSD on the Dreamcast.

  20. Was he right??? on Analyzing Palladium · · Score: 1

    If he was right, was he right because it was going to happen? Or because he planted the idea in people's heads. One of those crazy things about prophecies..

  21. My beef... on The Economist Looks At The Console Industry · · Score: 2

    My problem isn't with emulators, or the people who use them to check out games. It's with the people who think that it's not stealing from the programmer and content people of the original game and the people who justify the theft of the original ROM.
    All the 12 year olds who never had a SNES now think it's their right to go back and steal all these games? I don't think so. I don't care if you do it, just do sit there and try to say that you have some right to do it just because the original company went out of business or some such nonsence. Making games is/was hard work, and people (especially geeks on /.) should respect that if they like to play games.

    Most video games are like pop music, they are shallow and only ment to be used for a short time. They don't really have depth or meaning. They are ment to distract you for a short while and then you move on.

  22. Re:Illegality on Web Publishers Sue Gator · · Score: 1

    But is it legal for me to sneak into your house and tape farscape over your wife's soap operas?

  23. Re:Consoles.... on The Economist Looks At The Console Industry · · Score: 2

    All the consoles now have HDTV support, GC has had it since the start, same with X-Box. Sony just realeased a special hdtv adaptor in Japan.

    BTW, All you emulator thiefs can go take a long walk off a short pier.

  24. Back in the day..... on The Economist Looks At The Console Industry · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It was that the bit rating of the console was always the main processor. Not the graphics. The NES only had 4 bit graphics, but it was an '8-bit' system. Sega genesis could only display 64 colors at once and the SNES 256, yet these were all, '16-bit' systems. The main processor was the heart and soul of all the consoles before the current generation. As it would do almost all the work. Only in the last generation did we finally see co-processors that could actually do more then flip a couple of bits. So now they rate it by the largest thing in the system they can get away with, which is usually the size of an internal register.

    You really just can't compare apples to oranges which is what they are doing. All these systems over the years have compeletly different architechures. From the Atari 2600 to the X-Box, the only similarity is that they are all modeled after turing machines. So at the end of the day, they should be compared on which games they have and not how powerful they are.

  25. Ummm... on The Economist Looks At The Console Industry · · Score: 1

    you still can't get the following games for PC. All of which I truely love...
    FFX
    GT3
    MGS2
    Dynasty Warriors 2 (or 3)
    Dragon Warrior VII (ps one)
    And for x-box:
    Halo (yes, where is that MAC game they call Halo Mr. Jobs? Mr. look how awesome macs are at macworld Mr. Jobs? Too bad it came out for X-Box first!)
    Game Cube:
    Pikamin.
    Super Monkey Ball
    RE:Zero
    DreamCast:
    Soul Calibur (the one true fighting game)
    I mean sure if you want to wait like ten years to steal these games then you don't have to buy them. And yes, if you are using an emulator you are stealing, there is NO grey areas about them. Just admit it you thief.