You have just summarised pretty much all the things that are wrong with the Wii's hardware support that pissed me off. I'd like to add that Nintendo should also focus on releasing some unreleased games on the Virtual Console (e.g., the Fire Emblem series (5 games total) for the rest of the world, or the TurboGrafx16 to Australia) or even improved games (e.g., online support, bug fixes, actual save states, etc.). They could also introduce non-think-of-the-children online play for games that don't require game-specific friend codes (the Wii has its own for a fucking reason!) and allow you to make new friends via online games, but Nintendo still doesn't understand the internet, so I don't see that happening anytime soon. Hell, Sony still doesn't seem to understand it fully, and Microsoft just barely understands it well enough to provide a consistent online interface for pretty much all their games nowadays.
Well, these toddlers are too young mentally to understand these sort of things, so it's better to explain it as such. When they get older, they will begin to understand (with or without the parents' help) what is offencive and why some offencive things are funny.
And referring to George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"* is not a valid list as people *coughSterncough* have been fined for others.
* Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits.
It's also possible (and likely) that they are violating patents they don't have a license for, so giving the specs out might bring light to this. A stupid legal reason rather than a technical reason...
They all merge from each other and eventually end up with the same (or almost the same, but eventually the same) repository. Everyone can be up to date, or some people can stay behind to continue work on an area that isn't stable.
TiVo could easily just allow their customers to change the code in their TiVo's, or they could load the code into ROM so that nobody can modify the code without replacing the ROM. I don't see how allowing their customers to hack around with their TiVo's is going to fuck over their business model...
I also believe the big issue with DeCSS is that it's infringement to distribute means of bypassing copy protection. Just as how it is copyright infringement to upload the data, the problem is distribution. A good way to bypass this is to download libdvdcss on your own, then compile it, and nobody has distributed the actual tool to break CSS. The basic idea behind the outcome of the DeCSS case (even though I don't believe it finished with an actual verdict) was that distributing the code was covered by free speech (hence the songs, poems, pictures, etc., with the DeCSS code in it), so by distributing only the source code to libdvdcss, they should be in the clear (even though they aren't in the US).
I don't believe it is disallowed by the DMCA to break copy protection on your own for fair use, but telling others how to seems to be kinda illegal in some way. IANAL of course.
The cable companies desperately want to phase out analog channels - they eat much more spectrum than digital channels, and look worse to boot. Really? What cable company or satellite company are you using? In my experience, they all have awfully high compression that doesn't work for shit with cartoons/anime/CGI (e.g., Jimmy Newtron). It's barely a high enough bitrate for live TV. These companies all seem to be using MPEG-2 video compression, however, so there's a lot of room for improvement by using MPEG-4 ASP or AVC for example, but that would require more expensive STBs and whatnot.
That's what the driver CDs are for. "Grandma" still has to use those in order to use her camera (or so she thinks), so it can be easily included with the installation process.
Set a monetary limit (including the value of any indirect bribes given to them) per person. Make it a felony to try to bribe politicians above this limit or for colluding with others to influence them.
Linux guys can spend more on the applications because they didn't have to spend over $1000 on a copy of Vista and Office 2007 to get basic functionality.;)
Flash also uses H.263+, and since encoding to that is supported in FFmpeg (and not On2 VP6), that's what sites like YouTube use.
Ogg Vorbis is gaining support in all sorts of places (e.g., tons of videogames, Wikipedia et al., some online music stores, etc.), and once Ogg Theora is fully standardised and better supported by other open source codecs (like FFmpeg), it can become more ubiquitous.
Oh, and if you were trying to praise On2's VP codecs, note that Theora is based on On2's VP3 (which they generously put all their patents into the public domain essentially). It's too bad that Xiph is a lot more focused on audio solutions rather than complete multimedia ones.
And for pure speculation, perhaps Adobe will add Theora and Vorbis to the list of acceptable codecs in a future version of Flash since they are patent- and royalty-free.
Because Real seems to be the only company that makes cross-platform media players one of their top priorities. Also, Helix is pretty good (their open source player). They are also one of the easiest ways to get proprietary codecs legally on Linux. And for some reason, their Linux version of Real Player isn't nearly as bad as I remember the Windows malware version from back in the day.
First off, "wrap" agreements have been legally accepted by courts for a long time. So including a license with your software is technically binding if the software is used. O RLY? Let's see some case law, news stories, evidence. I'm sure something as important as the validation of shrinkwrap licenses would have made it to Slashdot by now...
Well, on the contrary, I used to notice the "warble" artifacts in low bitrate MP3s, but I didn't know what caused it. When I learnt that it was due to aliasing and low bitrates, I made sure to rip my music in the max bitrate (and later on, in lossless FLACs).
The numbers you want are around 20 GB for HD movies, and these are 1080p. DVDs are only as large as they are because they use the older (and outdated at this point) MPEG-2 part 2 video codec; this can be compressed to around 1 GiB (rather than around 8.8 GiB in a dual-layer DVD) using a more modern video codec like MPEG-4 part 2 (Advanced Simple Profile) or part 10 (AVC, High Profile) while maintaining nearly the same quality. Just as how CDs are encoded as raw PCM data using 16-bit samples at 44.1 kHz which can be compressed to a much smaller level via either lossless or lossy compression, DVDs can be compressed quite a bit using modern technology.
Ever heard of an HTPC? Linux tends to be one of the best operating systems for these things (along with MythTV, but that could use some improvements with the UI), and one usually hooks these up to a TV! If you didn't already know, you can also use an HDMI to DVI plug and plug your HDTV directly into a computer! No more need for a monitor when you've got your 60" 1080p HDTV in the living room for the family/girlfriend/wife to enjoy a nice movie or TV show. Isn't technology great?
The good thing about anime is that the studios in Japan don't use CSS and region codes much (if at all) anymore since it is just a waste of money. The downside, however, is that they still don't know shit about encoding DVDs and thus we end up with mixed hard- and soft-telecine with progressive and sometimes interlaced content in about 5 different framerates. This makes it nearly impossible to get a good copy of a DVD to watch on your progressive-scan laptop monitor or your HDTV.:/
My sister seems to have arachnophobia, so it's very annoying to hear, "OMG MATT/DAD COME KILL THE SPIDER! OMG HURRY! AIEEE!" I hate ants (well, not in a phobia sort of way) and pesky bugs in general, so I agree that spiders are awesome in this sense. They also make for good bosses in videogames.:)
Why should we have to completely ignore our culture just because of some assholes at the top? The Libertarian solution to every problem doesn't always work, and in this case, it won't work. People are ignorant of the issue, and even if they knew about it, they'd rather continue indulging in their culture and entertainment rather than "fight the power". We need to think of a different solution, and continuing to break all the rights-restricting DRM they throw at us is, in my opinion, a good start.
If the law wasn't bought and paid for by them, a boycott might work, but since they are able to extend copyright to cover anything and everything for as long as they want, we cannot just vote with our wallets; they've got much bigger wallets than us.
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You have just summarised pretty much all the things that are wrong with the Wii's hardware support that pissed me off. I'd like to add that Nintendo should also focus on releasing some unreleased games on the Virtual Console (e.g., the Fire Emblem series (5 games total) for the rest of the world, or the TurboGrafx16 to Australia) or even improved games (e.g., online support, bug fixes, actual save states, etc.). They could also introduce non-think-of-the-children online play for games that don't require game-specific friend codes (the Wii has its own for a fucking reason!) and allow you to make new friends via online games, but Nintendo still doesn't understand the internet, so I don't see that happening anytime soon. Hell, Sony still doesn't seem to understand it fully, and Microsoft just barely understands it well enough to provide a consistent online interface for pretty much all their games nowadays.
Well, these toddlers are too young mentally to understand these sort of things, so it's better to explain it as such. When they get older, they will begin to understand (with or without the parents' help) what is offencive and why some offencive things are funny.
And referring to George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"* is not a valid list as people *coughSterncough* have been fined for others.
* Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits.
The Fire Emblem series are great strategy [RPG] games. Available on Famicom, Super Famicom, GBA, Gamecube, and Wii.
Since you already mentioned RTS, I figured you meant something else by "strategy games". Check them out.
It's also possible (and likely) that they are violating patents they don't have a license for, so giving the specs out might bring light to this. A stupid legal reason rather than a technical reason...
They all merge from each other and eventually end up with the same (or almost the same, but eventually the same) repository. Everyone can be up to date, or some people can stay behind to continue work on an area that isn't stable.
TiVo could easily just allow their customers to change the code in their TiVo's, or they could load the code into ROM so that nobody can modify the code without replacing the ROM. I don't see how allowing their customers to hack around with their TiVo's is going to fuck over their business model...
I also believe the big issue with DeCSS is that it's infringement to distribute means of bypassing copy protection. Just as how it is copyright infringement to upload the data, the problem is distribution. A good way to bypass this is to download libdvdcss on your own, then compile it, and nobody has distributed the actual tool to break CSS. The basic idea behind the outcome of the DeCSS case (even though I don't believe it finished with an actual verdict) was that distributing the code was covered by free speech (hence the songs, poems, pictures, etc., with the DeCSS code in it), so by distributing only the source code to libdvdcss, they should be in the clear (even though they aren't in the US).
I don't believe it is disallowed by the DMCA to break copy protection on your own for fair use, but telling others how to seems to be kinda illegal in some way. IANAL of course.
Wow, what DSL company is that? Sounds pretty cool.
That's what the driver CDs are for. "Grandma" still has to use those in order to use her camera (or so she thinks), so it can be easily included with the installation process.
Set a monetary limit (including the value of any indirect bribes given to them) per person. Make it a felony to try to bribe politicians above this limit or for colluding with others to influence them.
Linux guys can spend more on the applications because they didn't have to spend over $1000 on a copy of Vista and Office 2007 to get basic functionality. ;)
Flash also uses H.263+, and since encoding to that is supported in FFmpeg (and not On2 VP6), that's what sites like YouTube use.
Ogg Vorbis is gaining support in all sorts of places (e.g., tons of videogames, Wikipedia et al., some online music stores, etc.), and once Ogg Theora is fully standardised and better supported by other open source codecs (like FFmpeg), it can become more ubiquitous.
Oh, and if you were trying to praise On2's VP codecs, note that Theora is based on On2's VP3 (which they generously put all their patents into the public domain essentially). It's too bad that Xiph is a lot more focused on audio solutions rather than complete multimedia ones.
And for pure speculation, perhaps Adobe will add Theora and Vorbis to the list of acceptable codecs in a future version of Flash since they are patent- and royalty-free.
Because Real seems to be the only company that makes cross-platform media players one of their top priorities. Also, Helix is pretty good (their open source player). They are also one of the easiest ways to get proprietary codecs legally on Linux. And for some reason, their Linux version of Real Player isn't nearly as bad as I remember the Windows malware version from back in the day.
Well, on the contrary, I used to notice the "warble" artifacts in low bitrate MP3s, but I didn't know what caused it. When I learnt that it was due to aliasing and low bitrates, I made sure to rip my music in the max bitrate (and later on, in lossless FLACs).
The numbers you want are around 20 GB for HD movies, and these are 1080p. DVDs are only as large as they are because they use the older (and outdated at this point) MPEG-2 part 2 video codec; this can be compressed to around 1 GiB (rather than around 8.8 GiB in a dual-layer DVD) using a more modern video codec like MPEG-4 part 2 (Advanced Simple Profile) or part 10 (AVC, High Profile) while maintaining nearly the same quality. Just as how CDs are encoded as raw PCM data using 16-bit samples at 44.1 kHz which can be compressed to a much smaller level via either lossless or lossy compression, DVDs can be compressed quite a bit using modern technology.
In a little over two hours later, we're already at 14200 results! Go internet!
Ever heard of an HTPC? Linux tends to be one of the best operating systems for these things (along with MythTV, but that could use some improvements with the UI), and one usually hooks these up to a TV! If you didn't already know, you can also use an HDMI to DVI plug and plug your HDTV directly into a computer! No more need for a monitor when you've got your 60" 1080p HDTV in the living room for the family/girlfriend/wife to enjoy a nice movie or TV show. Isn't technology great?
The good thing about anime is that the studios in Japan don't use CSS and region codes much (if at all) anymore since it is just a waste of money. The downside, however, is that they still don't know shit about encoding DVDs and thus we end up with mixed hard- and soft-telecine with progressive and sometimes interlaced content in about 5 different framerates. This makes it nearly impossible to get a good copy of a DVD to watch on your progressive-scan laptop monitor or your HDTV. :/
My sister seems to have arachnophobia, so it's very annoying to hear, "OMG MATT/DAD COME KILL THE SPIDER! OMG HURRY! AIEEE!" I hate ants (well, not in a phobia sort of way) and pesky bugs in general, so I agree that spiders are awesome in this sense. They also make for good bosses in videogames. :)
Too bad it isn't a valid haiku. ;)
Why should we have to completely ignore our culture just because of some assholes at the top? The Libertarian solution to every problem doesn't always work, and in this case, it won't work. People are ignorant of the issue, and even if they knew about it, they'd rather continue indulging in their culture and entertainment rather than "fight the power". We need to think of a different solution, and continuing to break all the rights-restricting DRM they throw at us is, in my opinion, a good start.
If the law wasn't bought and paid for by them, a boycott might work, but since they are able to extend copyright to cover anything and everything for as long as they want, we cannot just vote with our wallets; they've got much bigger wallets than us.