Hmm. Any idea if there's a software that not only allows you to strip down components, but add ones for install (ie, Opera/Firefox/Trillian and so on?). That would be great...
Sony Computer had shipped 2.97 mln PSP units by the end of March, and 5.70 mln units of game software for PSPs.
This number is far below that of the sales of Nintendo Co Ltd's Nintendo DS portable game consoles, which reached 5.27 mln units over the same period.
Does no one see anything fishy in those statistics? The PSP shipped on March 24th in the US, while the DS shipped in November. So of course the DS will have a better install base.
In any case, I've heard a lot of whining hear about hte fact that the disc isn't "Universal", as in other companies can use it. Doesn't the fact that it's been standardized, and will be further standardized by the ISO, make it more universal?
they couldn't force them to not bundle things with their computers. They make the whole thing; it's not really "bundling."
I'm sorry but I dont really see the argument here. So what if Apple makes the computers? They're still including software such as iTunes and Quicktime that hurts competitors from selling their software. They're still bundling things that technically aren't necessary for the operating system.
Microsoft's business practices were an abuse of their power because they prohibited other companies (like Dell and Gateway) from installing competitors products. Apple's bundling isn't like that.
Before this EU anti-trust case, Dell was already packaging their (shitty) media player with their computers. And you can purchase Linux servers from Dell and Gateway.
Lets face it, consumers expect things like media players, browsers, photo viewers and so on when they buy an operating system. Microsoft is being targetted because well, they dominate the OS market. If Apple had a 90% share of the OS market, the EU case would be against them for bunding iTunes and Quicktime.
Apple bundles iTunes and Quicktime with OS X. Does this not "stiffle innovation" nd decrease competition in the Mac market? In fact, there's a serious lack of a decent alternative to iTunes for OS X: ie an regular good ol' winamp-like MP3 player, and a lack of a decent alternative to Quicktime (VLC doesn't count, im talking things like Zoom Player).
On the Windows front, there's a whole wackload of alternatives for Windows Media Player that goes on and on and on. In that respect, there's no decent photo viewer other than iPhoto (Picasa is there for PC), no decent consumer video editor other than iMovie (plenty for PC) and so on and so forth. No one has competed with Apple on this front. Why? Because it's their by default? Why isn't Apple getting sued?
Ya ya, because Apple is not a "monopoly" you say. But guess what? If Microsoft was *forced* to strip Windows Media Player/Internet Explorer/MSN Messenger and all their other additions, then why shouldn't Apple be forced to strip Quicktime/Safari/iChat/iPhoto/iMovie/iTunes from OS X? After all, it would give them an unfair advantage. They can start marketing that they have all these great features right out of the box while Windows only comes with Notepad.
Suffice to say Microsoft is doing absolutely nothing to stop others from installing other browsers/media players or whatever people want. So Real Player has every opportunity to gather attention, and in fact their player used to be quite popular. Then it started to be spyware ridden, over-bloated interface and horribly slow player, and they lost it.
Matt and the rest of the IGN crew only serve to propagate rumours and false speculation. They regularly take short news snippets that should read "This and this happened. Period" to things like "Hmm. This and this happened. THis could mean this is happeneing then, or this. Or maybe even this. Of course we have absolutely no proof of any of this and it's all just wishful thinking on our part to keep the legions of Nintendo fanboys happy and armed with this speculations as if they're real. Which they're not."
And before I get modded down, I love Nintendo. I just hate IGN's constant and regular speculation on every piece of news they post that really shouldn't be there. That's not what news is about. If i wanted fanboy speculation I'd read some random online blogs.
Parents should watch their kids. And it's no excuse that they're not in tune with the child / video game culture, because its bull. As parents it's their responsibility to be in tune with that culture. No, I'm not saying parents should be skateboarding punk listeners, or whatever the heck it is kids do these days, but they should know what their kids are doing, and attempt to steer them in the right direction. They should make an effort to find out what this whole video game thing. They should find out what games they're buying their kids and what their kids are doing. No time you say? That's no bloody excuse: maybe you should have thought of that before getting a kid? I mean look at this, and then they turn around and blame the gaming industry.
You know what else is good? Put the console/computer in the living room, where everyone can see what the child is playing, instead of having it holed up in their room where no one has any idea what they're doing.
Dear Jeebus. I think that site constitutes more of an offence than those darned AOL cds. Pointless animated gifs? Check! Erratic use of bevels? Check! Ugly green hit counter? Check! Cheesy rollovers? Check! Absolutely no concept of content display? Check! This is 2005, not 1996!
And the problem is people remain lax and keep on saying the same thing: "Well, we're still better off than China/North Korea, so that's fine I guess", as more and more rights keep on being swept from under their feet. They do nothing to counteract it, and before they know it, the country they're in will end up being as bad, if not worse, than the tyrannies that they were criticizing all this time.
The fact is that the Chinese government is totalitarian and very motivated in the preservation of its regime. It will use any means necessary to maintain that position.
The US is the most powerful nation in the world right now, and is very motivated in preserving that fact. Even so far as to wage war against countries that haven't attacked it. Isn't that totalitarian?
Here in the US the various agencies are held accountable (at some level at least) for their actions, and they can be taken to court (FBI, Waco, anyone?). We could certainly use more accountability in the office of the president and Congress however.
Definitely, especially since the CIA and the president fabricated lies to justify going to war, and has continued to lie against mounting evidence (ie, not knowing about immenent attacks, etc).
I can't comment on other countries, but I've lived int he Middle East (i'm from Kuwait). Yes, internet in Saudi Arabia/Kuwait and similar countries IS "censored", but the censoring is done merely against pornographic content, as its against the law there, and I can respect that. However, owning a satellite dish is certainly not viewed as a major crime, and virtually everyone nowadays has satellite TV, as Cable TV isn't widespread. But no, I can't respect or justify China attempting to censor the topic of freedom, and I never said I did.
No i'm not. Both items are wrong and *should* be corrected. What im saying is that the US (especially the US government) is quick to point fingers at other countries when they violate human rights and freedom, and then turn around and do the same thing themselves. I guess I wasn't clear, but the US (government) shouldn't be telling other countries what to do when they have problems of their own to fix.
Why did you post this as AC? Scared? Oh well. I'm not grinding a personal axe but stating something most people either ignore, or don't see. People always talk about China/Saudi Arabia/*insert country US doesnt like* lack of human rights/free speech and so on, and are totally oblivious to the fact that they are being completely hypocritical. What about Guantanamo Bay, where people have been held for years without trial? What about the Patriot Act, that gives the government the right to arrest and spy on people without being questioned? People should be considering this before blasting countries like China. And note I'm not saying China is good and the US is bad.
Just a point: Microsofts ships out the Service Pack CDs for free, or at least they do at the very launch of the SP. Don't know what they're doing now, but I definitely got a copy of my CD for free.
Ever read Neuromancer? Because half of The Matrix is ripped off from that book. Heck, they even had a cyberspace called "the matrix" in it. Also from The City and the Stars by Arthur c Clarke, Ghost in the Shell and many, many more. They basically threw all these ideas together, and called them their own. Now they're not even bothering. They're talking an already established comic book, making a movie out of it, and calling it their on.
They also worked with Toshiba on the Cell processor. And in another camp, they're in direct competition with guess who? Yup, Toshiba in that whole Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD spectacle.
I too love my Xbox. It was the last console I bought this generation, about a year and a bit after its launch (i bought both the PS2 and GameCube at launch). So far I've been playing the Xbox far more than any other console; in fact, I even let my friend borrow the PS2 since I ain't playing it much.
As for the next generation consoles? I'm looking forward to getting the Xbox 360 at launch. MS hasn't overbullshitted their hype like Sony are doing, claiming that the Xbox 360 will be the end of everything (where Sony are claiming the PS3 will be a powerful computer, which can run OSes, even "imaging" applications. No thanks, thats what my PC is for!) and has some pretty good games coming for launch. I'll also be buying the Revolution at launch (im a nintendo fanboy), but as for the PS3? I'll wait.
No no, trust me. The anti-christ is Norton/Symantec. Trust me. Norton AV slows my system down to a crawl. When I installed their firewall, it broke half my applications (and yes, they were approved to access the net. They'd just crash with it running). The latest version of McAfee programs (2005) is actually pretty darn good. I don't like their "Security Center". It's a good start, but could use a more builtin interface (ie, no different windows for firewall/av), but the actual programs are pretty damned good. Combined with MS/Giant's Anti-Spyware, and you got a pretty secure and stable Windows box.
Yes, but at the same time, knowing AHEAD of time that to get anywhere in a game I have to play for at least an hour till I hit the next save can deter me from playing. I love games, I'm not a casual gamer per se (got all 3 consoles and a rigged up PC to boot), but I can't ensure that I have the next hour available to play a game. I can get a call and have to go out, might remember that I have some school work to be done, my cat may require my attention. If i start playing and any of those situations come up, I'd have to drop a game. For games like Metroid Prime where saves are interspersed between levels, it's kind of hard for me to commit to playing. Granted sometimes that case doesn't happen, and I'd end up playing Halo 2/Zelda etc, games that allow me to stop anytime, for hours on end. But knowing that I can stop anytime and not lose that last 45 minutes of play, especially if it was through a damned tough section, is a bonus that'd get me playing. Heck, sometimes I'd just get bored of playing a game 30 minutes in but haven't saved yet. I feel like playing another game, but I have to go through another boss fight/dungeon crawl to get to the next save before I can.
Why not link to the actual Gamespot article, that never says things in such a clearcut way as gamesradar does?
Here's the quote:
GS: Do you plan on having like a per-download pricing model along the lines of the microtransactions that will be used in the next-gen Xbox marketplace
GH: Well, we can use it in a variety of ways. We've used some of the older games already as little bonuses, either as bonus gifts or hidden in levels of games. Certainly for the first-party titles we'll be making some of those available. We haven't really talked about whether we would sell them. The third parties can make their own decision whether they want to sell them, or maybe they will add it on as sort of a free benefit when you buy a current version of the game.
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm. Any idea if there's a software that not only allows you to strip down components, but add ones for install (ie, Opera/Firefox/Trillian and so on?). That would be great...
Uhh. Isn't Windows Server 2003 a stripped down version of Windows primarily to be used as a server?
Does no one see anything fishy in those statistics? The PSP shipped on March 24th in the US, while the DS shipped in November. So of course the DS will have a better install base.
In any case, I've heard a lot of whining hear about hte fact that the disc isn't "Universal", as in other companies can use it. Doesn't the fact that it's been standardized, and will be further standardized by the ISO, make it more universal?
Before this EU anti-trust case, Dell was already packaging their (shitty) media player with their computers. And you can purchase Linux servers from Dell and Gateway.
Lets face it, consumers expect things like media players, browsers, photo viewers and so on when they buy an operating system. Microsoft is being targetted because well, they dominate the OS market. If Apple had a 90% share of the OS market, the EU case would be against them for bunding iTunes and Quicktime.
On the Windows front, there's a whole wackload of alternatives for Windows Media Player that goes on and on and on. In that respect, there's no decent photo viewer other than iPhoto (Picasa is there for PC), no decent consumer video editor other than iMovie (plenty for PC) and so on and so forth. No one has competed with Apple on this front. Why? Because it's their by default? Why isn't Apple getting sued?
Ya ya, because Apple is not a "monopoly" you say. But guess what? If Microsoft was *forced* to strip Windows Media Player/Internet Explorer/MSN Messenger and all their other additions, then why shouldn't Apple be forced to strip Quicktime/Safari/iChat/iPhoto/iMovie/iTunes from OS X? After all, it would give them an unfair advantage. They can start marketing that they have all these great features right out of the box while Windows only comes with Notepad.
Suffice to say Microsoft is doing absolutely nothing to stop others from installing other browsers/media players or whatever people want. So Real Player has every opportunity to gather attention, and in fact their player used to be quite popular. Then it started to be spyware ridden, over-bloated interface and horribly slow player, and they lost it.
And before I get modded down, I love Nintendo. I just hate IGN's constant and regular speculation on every piece of news they post that really shouldn't be there. That's not what news is about. If i wanted fanboy speculation I'd read some random online blogs.
You know what else is good? Put the console/computer in the living room, where everyone can see what the child is playing, instead of having it holed up in their room where no one has any idea what they're doing.
Also, KFC is starting to open up restaurants int he states named "Kentucky Fried Chicken" in a "going back to their roots" effort.
Dear Jeebus. I think that site constitutes more of an offence than those darned AOL cds. Pointless animated gifs? Check! Erratic use of bevels? Check! Ugly green hit counter? Check! Cheesy rollovers? Check! Absolutely no concept of content display? Check! This is 2005, not 1996!
And the problem is people remain lax and keep on saying the same thing: "Well, we're still better off than China/North Korea, so that's fine I guess", as more and more rights keep on being swept from under their feet. They do nothing to counteract it, and before they know it, the country they're in will end up being as bad, if not worse, than the tyrannies that they were criticizing all this time.
The US is the most powerful nation in the world right now, and is very motivated in preserving that fact. Even so far as to wage war against countries that haven't attacked it. Isn't that totalitarian?
Here in the US the various agencies are held accountable (at some level at least) for their actions, and they can be taken to court (FBI, Waco, anyone?). We could certainly use more accountability in the office of the president and Congress however.
Definitely, especially since the CIA and the president fabricated lies to justify going to war, and has continued to lie against mounting evidence (ie, not knowing about immenent attacks, etc).
I can't comment on other countries, but I've lived int he Middle East (i'm from Kuwait). Yes, internet in Saudi Arabia/Kuwait and similar countries IS "censored", but the censoring is done merely against pornographic content, as its against the law there, and I can respect that. However, owning a satellite dish is certainly not viewed as a major crime, and virtually everyone nowadays has satellite TV, as Cable TV isn't widespread. But no, I can't respect or justify China attempting to censor the topic of freedom, and I never said I did.
No i'm not. Both items are wrong and *should* be corrected. What im saying is that the US (especially the US government) is quick to point fingers at other countries when they violate human rights and freedom, and then turn around and do the same thing themselves. I guess I wasn't clear, but the US (government) shouldn't be telling other countries what to do when they have problems of their own to fix.
Why did you post this as AC? Scared? Oh well. I'm not grinding a personal axe but stating something most people either ignore, or don't see. People always talk about China/Saudi Arabia/*insert country US doesnt like* lack of human rights/free speech and so on, and are totally oblivious to the fact that they are being completely hypocritical. What about Guantanamo Bay, where people have been held for years without trial? What about the Patriot Act, that gives the government the right to arrest and spy on people without being questioned? People should be considering this before blasting countries like China. And note I'm not saying China is good and the US is bad.
And the US constitution isn't being violated by the Patriot Act?
Virtually all of the middle east uses UK style sockets too.
Just a point: Microsofts ships out the Service Pack CDs for free, or at least they do at the very launch of the SP. Don't know what they're doing now, but I definitely got a copy of my CD for free.
Ever read Neuromancer? Because half of The Matrix is ripped off from that book. Heck, they even had a cyberspace called "the matrix" in it. Also from The City and the Stars by Arthur c Clarke, Ghost in the Shell and many, many more. They basically threw all these ideas together, and called them their own. Now they're not even bothering. They're talking an already established comic book, making a movie out of it, and calling it their on.
http://www.apple-history.nl/support_files/h6.html
here
They also worked with Toshiba on the Cell processor. And in another camp, they're in direct competition with guess who? Yup, Toshiba in that whole Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD spectacle.
As for the next generation consoles? I'm looking forward to getting the Xbox 360 at launch. MS hasn't overbullshitted their hype like Sony are doing, claiming that the Xbox 360 will be the end of everything (where Sony are claiming the PS3 will be a powerful computer, which can run OSes, even "imaging" applications. No thanks, thats what my PC is for!) and has some pretty good games coming for launch. I'll also be buying the Revolution at launch (im a nintendo fanboy), but as for the PS3? I'll wait.
No no, trust me. The anti-christ is Norton/Symantec. Trust me. Norton AV slows my system down to a crawl. When I installed their firewall, it broke half my applications (and yes, they were approved to access the net. They'd just crash with it running). The latest version of McAfee programs (2005) is actually pretty darn good. I don't like their "Security Center". It's a good start, but could use a more builtin interface (ie, no different windows for firewall/av), but the actual programs are pretty damned good. Combined with MS/Giant's Anti-Spyware, and you got a pretty secure and stable Windows box.
Yes, but at the same time, knowing AHEAD of time that to get anywhere in a game I have to play for at least an hour till I hit the next save can deter me from playing. I love games, I'm not a casual gamer per se (got all 3 consoles and a rigged up PC to boot), but I can't ensure that I have the next hour available to play a game. I can get a call and have to go out, might remember that I have some school work to be done, my cat may require my attention. If i start playing and any of those situations come up, I'd have to drop a game. For games like Metroid Prime where saves are interspersed between levels, it's kind of hard for me to commit to playing. Granted sometimes that case doesn't happen, and I'd end up playing Halo 2/Zelda etc, games that allow me to stop anytime, for hours on end. But knowing that I can stop anytime and not lose that last 45 minutes of play, especially if it was through a damned tough section, is a bonus that'd get me playing. Heck, sometimes I'd just get bored of playing a game 30 minutes in but haven't saved yet. I feel like playing another game, but I have to go through another boss fight/dungeon crawl to get to the next save before I can.
Here's the quote:
Try TextPad and Zoom Player.