OKAY WE GET IT nobody knows who they are. Must you tell us 90,000 times? You
can do that while in the process of doing something else, like entertaining
us. *
To kill time before NaNoWriMo,
let's all make our own Sims powered sitcoms. Ready. Set. Go.
* Yes, I am being overly critical, this is what slashdot for isn't it?
With XBox 2 around the corner, it seems to me that Microsoft is firing the first salvo in the upcoming Media Center wars. Sony and Microsoft both want to be the entertainment hub of the living room - video games, TV, music, movies... all in one.
I guess M$ has an advantage in that they control the desktop, but I think they're making a mistake by releasing XBox 2 so early. The hype simply isn't there the way it would be if they waited for Sony, and once the PS3 does come out, everyone will be comparing spec's. By releasing now, they're locking in at a lower specification level.
Surprisingly, Sony's answer, the smaller PS2 doesn't even have a hard drive. I guess this means they're not seriously pushing the PS2 as an entertainment appliance.
Nintendo, in contrast, is holding out until the PS3 release date for their next generation system, but pushing their DS handheld now in it's place. Since Nintendo has a reputation for good handhelds, they can gain some foothold here and convert people who want handheld to console compatability (which I suspect isn't that many people).
This ruling doesn't actually say that 1 click ordering is a good and just patent, it just says that it doesn't infringe on another similar patent, is that correct?
In other words, if someone else were to implement 1 click ordering, and Amazon sued them, this case would have no bearing on that one.
What's the name of the guy who hangs out with the musicians?
The Robot!
Seriously though, this kind of thing was fairly obvious, IMHO. A traditional MIDI drummer triggered sounds in a computer, which came out of a speaker, and probably sounded "close enough" to a real drummer who was recorded and is being played back for most people.
The next logical step is something that could take MIDI instructions, but sound like a live drummer (i.e. not come through a speaker), and the obvious answer to that is a robot drummer.
But tell me, does this robot get drunk and vomit all over itself backstage before the show too? Because if it does, I don't think it's worth the investment.
I'm a console gamer that's vowed never to buy another PC game again, yet I bought The Sims 2. I buy maybe 5 or 6 games a year, and I usually only buy the ones I know are going to be good, and I don't buy them if they're more than $20 unless I really want them. For example, I'm still workin on GTA3 and just bought Vice City a couple of days ago. But, I broke all of my rules and bought The Sims 2 for PC for $45 or $50 or whatever it was (well, I had an Amazon gift certificate, so it was really free).
Why? Because I'm a fan of the series, and so is my girlfriend, and we'll both get lots of use out of it. I don't know if I'll get Urbz when it comes out, but as long as it doesn't get trashed by the fans, I'll get it when it hits the $20-25 mark, which could be a very long time if it remains popular.
Urbz, I think, is an answer to the question "Why should I get The Sims for my Console if I already have it for my PC?" There's probably the perception - and rightly so - that there's too much overlap between the two, especially now that the PC version has a 3D engine, goal oriented play (though still more open ended than the console version), and a high level of customization. Urbz, then, might not be about capturing a different demographic, but about differentiating enough to get their existing customers to buy in to something they might otherwise see as redundant.
"This isn't the Sims, it's the Urbz, and you have to buy it because it's not the same, it's different." Ever since Maxis was acquired by EA, they've been dedicated to one thing, and one thing only: Sucking the life blood out of their existing customer base by creating add on after add on, and even requiring that you bought all the 99 prevoious ones before you could use the one you wanted. No more variety (sim life, sim ant, sim far, sim tower, sim earth, etc.), just The Sims and The Sims expansion packs.
So think of the Urbz not as a different game aimed at getting a different audience. Think of the Urbz as an expansion pack you can only get on consoles.
No spyware would play by the rules. They'd do everything they could to bypass the robo lawyer bot thingy. And how would you - as the article implies - install this software *before* you install your OS?
Ashcroft said the FBI also would increase the number of agents assigned to investigations, and develop youth information programs to encourage respect for artists' rights.
Who's rights? The IP owner in this case is the record labels and movie companies, no the artists. When's the last time you looked at the copyright label on a CD or DVD?
But have you seen the Metal Gear Acid Trailers? That thing looks somewhere in between the graphics capabilities of the PS1 and PS2. Just look at the size of the new PS2, it's clear that Sony can fit that technology into a handheld. Sorry, but I think the market is ready for a PS2 you can play on the subway.
HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM
THE North Korean CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE
THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $47,500,000.00
(FORTY SEVEN MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) INTO YOUR
ACCOUNTS.
"Have you ever stared at it? Marvel at its beauty, its genius? Billions of people living their lives. Oblivious. Do you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world, with no suffering, where everyone would be happy? It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed that we lacked the programming language to define the perfect world. I believe that as a species, humans define their reality through misery and suffering. The "perfect" world was a dream that their primitive cerebellum tried to awake from. That is why this Matrix was redesigned to the peak of your civilization. Or should I say our civilization? Because as soon as we started thinking for you, it became our civilization."
I always said that Carnivore / Echelon / TIA probably resembles Google. That's what I would do if I were the government. Then it doesn't matter what format the information is in, web enable it, publish it and spider it. *poof* your database on everything law enforcement knows about everyone, without having to worry about integrating disparate systems across government (local and federal) agencies.
Didn't http://www.google-watch.org/ say that one of Google's top people came from the Department of Defense?
Much like the real thing, looking at an Apple through my apartment's Windows
isn't the same as taking a bite for myself.
All I can say is I can finally get access to all those hundreds of OSX apps
I keep hearing about that won't Run on Windows.... No... Really. All those...
OSX Apps...
No wait, I have that backwards.
So what do you think, is it based on PearPC
or what? If they can get OSX
on an X-Box (OSX-Box?), I'm sure there's nothing they can't do. And with
X-Box2 being based on the Mac chip, we might get a cheap X-Box2 emulator in
time for Christmas.
Today I want to talk about piracy and music. What is piracy? Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it. I'm not talking about Napster-type software.
I'm talking about major label recording contracts.
Starving musicians everywhere should file a class action suit against the RIAA for being used as the RIAA's defense in these cases, when we all know that the starving musicians are starving because of the RIAA's monopolistic nature & underhanded treatment of their "talent."
Anyone who buys a badge to the CMJ Music Marathon gets free entry to DigitalLife. If you're into music & electronics, this could be the ticket of the season.
I listen to my music on a non-linear device that doesn't get bigger when my music collection does.
I store my music on my computer and/or iPod.
I'm supposed to buy my music on a linear medium, find physical storage space for all of the albums I own, and manually transfer every CD I own or will want to own to my computer?
Something about this model seems fundamentally wrong. The RIAA needs to make a paradigm shift that acknowledges that you can sell non physical goods and make a profit.
If I'm going to rip my CD to MP3 anyway, why should they bother selling me the CD, it's no less copyable than an MP3, and after a lifetime of collecting music, I won't have to worry about replacing my old CD's with whatever the next generation medium is, like we did with LP's in the mid 80's.
The movie industry will face this same challenge in another 10 years when technology makes DVD's obsolete, and I can download an HD quality movie in minutes and burn it to whatever medium is popular, or upload it to my media center in seconds.
It has nothing to do with a rotating screen
on
360-Degree 3D Imaging
·
· Score: 2, Informative
The only way I could see this working is like those saucer discs that will show penny floating in mid air. The question is, how do you record the 3d image and project it back? 3d is a heck of a lot more information than 2d.
It sounds like all smoke and mirrors to me. No pun intended.
Slashdot Mirror
Nanobots, tiny jet engines. Has anyone warned Dennis Quaid?
Oh, and making movies like this is fully sanctioned by EA, and they even give you the video to use at the end Made with The Sims 2
OKAY WE GET IT nobody knows who they are. Must you tell us 90,000 times? You can do that while in the process of doing something else, like entertaining us. *
To kill time before NaNoWriMo, let's all make our own Sims powered sitcoms. Ready. Set. Go.
* Yes, I am being overly critical, this is what slashdot for isn't it?
With XBox 2 around the corner, it seems to me that Microsoft is firing the first salvo in the upcoming Media Center wars. Sony and Microsoft both want to be the entertainment hub of the living room - video games, TV, music, movies... all in one.
I guess M$ has an advantage in that they control the desktop, but I think they're making a mistake by releasing XBox 2 so early. The hype simply isn't there the way it would be if they waited for Sony, and once the PS3 does come out, everyone will be comparing spec's. By releasing now, they're locking in at a lower specification level.
Surprisingly, Sony's answer, the smaller PS2 doesn't even have a hard drive. I guess this means they're not seriously pushing the PS2 as an entertainment appliance.
Nintendo, in contrast, is holding out until the PS3 release date for their next generation system, but pushing their DS handheld now in it's place. Since Nintendo has a reputation for good handhelds, they can gain some foothold here and convert people who want handheld to console compatability (which I suspect isn't that many people).
And good news for LAN parties & clubs around the world. HUZZAH!
This ruling doesn't actually say that 1 click ordering is a good and just patent, it just says that it doesn't infringe on another similar patent, is that correct?
In other words, if someone else were to implement 1 click ordering, and Amazon sued them, this case would have no bearing on that one.
How is it we can get exact specs for Echelon, but not for Google?
The guy who designed the system is going offshore, because the government couldn't get the greenlight and hoping to find private backers.
Bell said he did not become involved with Global until after he left government in March.
What's the name of the guy who hangs out with the musicians?
The Robot!
Seriously though, this kind of thing was fairly obvious, IMHO. A traditional MIDI drummer triggered sounds in a computer, which came out of a speaker, and probably sounded "close enough" to a real drummer who was recorded and is being played back for most people.
The next logical step is something that could take MIDI instructions, but sound like a live drummer (i.e. not come through a speaker), and the obvious answer to that is a robot drummer.
But tell me, does this robot get drunk and vomit all over itself backstage before the show too? Because if it does, I don't think it's worth the investment.
Has anyone called Spinal Tap yet?
If the computers didn't design the computer programs playing the games, then I'd say either way is a win for humans.
The game is supposed to be hip and "underground" (or at least urban). Therefore, the artists they chose are hip and "underground" (or at least urban).
Juts look at the cartoon on the homepage today, and that about sums it up:
"Oh look, a hipster, this is an opportunity to improve my hipster cred."
I'm a console gamer that's vowed never to buy another PC game again, yet I bought The Sims 2. I buy maybe 5 or 6 games a year, and I usually only buy the ones I know are going to be good, and I don't buy them if they're more than $20 unless I really want them. For example, I'm still workin on GTA3 and just bought Vice City a couple of days ago. But, I broke all of my rules and bought The Sims 2 for PC for $45 or $50 or whatever it was (well, I had an Amazon gift certificate, so it was really free).
Why? Because I'm a fan of the series, and so is my girlfriend, and we'll both get lots of use out of it. I don't know if I'll get Urbz when it comes out, but as long as it doesn't get trashed by the fans, I'll get it when it hits the $20-25 mark, which could be a very long time if it remains popular.
Urbz, I think, is an answer to the question "Why should I get The Sims for my Console if I already have it for my PC?" There's probably the perception - and rightly so - that there's too much overlap between the two, especially now that the PC version has a 3D engine, goal oriented play (though still more open ended than the console version), and a high level of customization. Urbz, then, might not be about capturing a different demographic, but about differentiating enough to get their existing customers to buy in to something they might otherwise see as redundant.
"This isn't the Sims, it's the Urbz, and you have to buy it because it's not the same, it's different." Ever since Maxis was acquired by EA, they've been dedicated to one thing, and one thing only: Sucking the life blood out of their existing customer base by creating add on after add on, and even requiring that you bought all the 99 prevoious ones before you could use the one you wanted. No more variety (sim life, sim ant, sim far, sim tower, sim earth, etc.), just The Sims and The Sims expansion packs.
So think of the Urbz not as a different game aimed at getting a different audience. Think of the Urbz as an expansion pack you can only get on consoles.
No spyware would play by the rules. They'd do everything they could to bypass the robo lawyer bot thingy. And how would you - as the article implies - install this software *before* you install your OS?
Ashcroft said the FBI also would increase the number of agents assigned to investigations, and develop youth information programs to encourage respect for artists' rights.
Who's rights? The IP owner in this case is the record labels and movie companies, no the artists. When's the last time you looked at the copyright label on a CD or DVD?
But have you seen the Metal Gear Acid Trailers? That thing looks somewhere in between the graphics capabilities of the PS1 and PS2. Just look at the size of the new PS2, it's clear that Sony can fit that technology into a handheld. Sorry, but I think the market is ready for a PS2 you can play on the subway.
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL
HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE North Korean CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $47,500,000.00 (FORTY SEVEN MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) INTO YOUR ACCOUNTS.
"Have you ever stared at it? Marvel at its beauty, its genius? Billions of people living their lives. Oblivious. Do you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world, with no suffering, where everyone would be happy? It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed that we lacked the programming language to define the perfect world. I believe that as a species, humans define their reality through misery and suffering. The "perfect" world was a dream that their primitive cerebellum tried to awake from. That is why this Matrix was redesigned to the peak of your civilization. Or should I say our civilization? Because as soon as we started thinking for you, it became our civilization."
- Agent Smith, The Matrix
I always said that Carnivore / Echelon / TIA probably resembles Google. That's what I would do if I were the government. Then it doesn't matter what format the information is in, web enable it, publish it and spider it. *poof* your database on everything law enforcement knows about everyone, without having to worry about integrating disparate systems across government (local and federal) agencies.
Didn't http://www.google-watch.org/ say that one of Google's top people came from the Department of Defense?
Much like the real thing, looking at an Apple through my apartment's Windows isn't the same as taking a bite for myself.
All I can say is I can finally get access to all those hundreds of OSX apps I keep hearing about that won't Run on Windows.... No... Really. All those... OSX Apps...
No wait, I have that backwards.
So what do you think, is it based on PearPC or what? If they can get OSX on an X-Box (OSX-Box?), I'm sure there's nothing they can't do. And with X-Box2 being based on the Mac chip, we might get a cheap X-Box2 emulator in time for Christmas.
"Any tool is a weapon if you hold it right."
Starving musicians everywhere should file a class action suit against the RIAA for being used as the RIAA's defense in these cases, when we all know that the starving musicians are starving because of the RIAA's monopolistic nature & underhanded treatment of their "talent."
Anyone who buys a badge to the CMJ Music Marathon gets free entry to DigitalLife. If you're into music & electronics, this could be the ticket of the season.
I listen to my music on a non-linear device that doesn't get bigger when my music collection does.
I store my music on my computer and/or iPod.
I'm supposed to buy my music on a linear medium, find physical storage space for all of the albums I own, and manually transfer every CD I own or will want to own to my computer?
Something about this model seems fundamentally wrong. The RIAA needs to make a paradigm shift that acknowledges that you can sell non physical goods and make a profit.
If I'm going to rip my CD to MP3 anyway, why should they bother selling me the CD, it's no less copyable than an MP3, and after a lifetime of collecting music, I won't have to worry about replacing my old CD's with whatever the next generation medium is, like we did with LP's in the mid 80's.
The movie industry will face this same challenge in another 10 years when technology makes DVD's obsolete, and I can download an HD quality movie in minutes and burn it to whatever medium is popular, or upload it to my media center in seconds.
The company's website: http://www.3dsolar.com/
The only way I could see this working is like those saucer discs that will show penny floating in mid air. The question is, how do you record the 3d image and project it back? 3d is a heck of a lot more information than 2d.
It sounds like all smoke and mirrors to me. No pun intended.