bah, Alternate Reality was more interesting ;-)
on
Unfinished Adventures
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· Score: 2
The demise of the legendary AR series was much more of a loss to me (and many other fanatic players, I presume). Only 2 out of 7(?) parts were released and judging from Philip Price's obvious talents, all 7 would have been worthwhile. There was an attempt around 1995 to develop "Alternate Reality Online" (www.aro.com, now defunct) by Philip Price and Gary Gilbertson (the 2 people responsible for the first AR game, AFAIK), but apparently it never went far.
IMHO, points 1-5 imply that there is a need for games developed with a much tighter budget. It doesn't make sense to invest tens of millions of dollars into games that will never make a profit because the market is so saturated. It simply can't work out, the size of the market is known and the total amount of money spent on games is finite. So, throws your money at the titles where the expectations are high and develop new, experimental titles on a small budget (and that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be of bad quality). I'd very much like to see a breakdown of costs for a typical "AAA" game (marketing, programming, video sequences,...).
The other points apply just as much to many other places in the IT industry, except for the fact that you get less attention (and a higher salary instead) - I work 80-100 hours/week too and we're shipping every day.:-/ (btw., I have had some insight into the game industry - I even almost signed a contract to join an EA subsidiary in 1999... Hey, they expected me to work only 50 hours/week;-)).
* you can't beat the best google-spammers in the end... they're always smarter, quicker, difficult to identify
* worse rankings with a particular keyword mean that a company will seriously consider using AdWords to maximize the traffic gain from google - so hey, it's good for google... let's hope this isn't a reason
* the big mistake is to use a "static" relationship between websites as a measure for a site's traffic or importance - better offer a "google counter" (google has the resources, I suppose)
All things considered, Google is still doing pretty well.
Sorting doesn't work properly. If I change to a different folder and according to the headers bar it should be sorted by e.g. date, while I cannot scroll further up, it doesn't display the newest 20% of the messages. When I click on "Date" twice, suddenly the scroll bar works as expected again (shows more messages further up and allows me to scroll to the newest messages). Happens all the time with 1.1. and is really easy to notice.
Also "Save as" for attachments is mostly broken - doesn't allow me to save with another extension if Mozilla thinks the MIME type deserves to get an.exe appended to it.
Another problem is that I have to download every f.cking 120-400KB mail virus if I want to delete it (at least there's no obvious way to delete messages without downloading them).
I didn't complain about anyone in particular. I complained about the hype-spreading related to new features while basic functionality is still broken. They can add all the bells and whistles they want, but unless they fix bugs in the mail client, I must conclude that they're not taking their users seriously.
The e-mail client is still broken. Somehow I don't like reading all the hype about new features, faster rendering etc. while essential basic functions still don't work reliably.
The RIAA doesn't need to care about bad press and PR. Your average consumer will acknowledge how evil that organization is, but still purchase happily from its members. They aren't called "RIAA" and there is no connection obvious to the consumer.
-lj
... as long as they provide all the necessary information to Open Source developers.
Ah yes, and they should also stop using components made by companies who don't provide information.
Accessories such as controllers, memory cards etc. can bring a significant profit
No matter how much M$ loses per console, it's still not a significant total amount compared to their cash reserves. If they can manage to out-sell the PS2 and the GC, it's just a matter of time before the alternatives disappear into a niche. Microsoft can sustain a long price war.
Make that a "crappy Intel processor". My Sony has a mobile 1GHz P3 CPU, which I usually operate in "speed-step" mode (clocked at 750MHz). The case still gets so hot that it's almost unbearable when I have it sitting on my lap.
Re-reading your comment, I noticed that you actually meant companies who included Open Source software in their commercial software packages... My rant wasn't specific to that situation, but to the use (not commercial re-distribution) of Open Source software by companies in general. So, it's just a rant;-)
Re:The embedded market is not completely fucked up
on
Open Source & Embedded
·
· Score: 2
I wonder, though, why companies aren't giving more money to the people whose software they use.
Companies need long-term planning for their investments. Personally, I'd rather pay $1000 for software knowing that it goes to a company that is most likely going to be supporting the software for the next 2 years, than $500 for a package where this is not likely at all. Unfortunately, only very few O.S. projects come with some sort of established development process that guaratees that they're going to be "supported" (bug fixes...) in the next 2 years.
Also, the best Open Source programs are so popular and widespread that you get your support for them elsewhere (contracting...), so money spent by companies "on" these products goes to those other people. Finally, don't expect a company to donate money if it doesn't have some visible positive effect on the company itself...
IMHO, Open Source developers need to find business models that work well together with their products, e.g. web server software developers re-selling SSL certificates (I don't care where I get mine, and I don't mind paying slightly more if the money goes to the right people), compiler tools programmers offering affiliate links to recommended books about programming languages etc.... It's much easier to say "thank you" by chosing you as the reseller of something (not merchandise, unless it's something really useful!) you're going to buy anyway at more or less the same price, than by donating money with nothing in return.
Look around - the market is dominated by specific brands and product series, which don't have any competition. MS Office, Adobe Photoshop etc. have a firm grip on the market and other products are not even granted a closer look. People don't even mind paying more for products of inferior quality, as long as they are "compatible" with what is considered the "standard". So, it's just logical that companies invest more in sales & advertising than quality assurance.:-)
wizzy writes "Irelands toplevel domain registry
(
*)
has a notice on Microsoft and Apple DHCP (*) clients sending dynamic DNS updates per RFC2136 (*). The problem is they are not sufficiently careful about where they send it if they are in...
I guess we should be happy that they don't link to Apple and Microsoft as well;-)
You can get 256MB PC2100 (CL2.5) in good old Europe for under 70 Euros including (local) sales tax. And the Euros are pretty cheap at the moment, too:-/.
DDR prices.
Whenever life get you down, Mrs. Brown And things seem hard or tough And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft And you feel that you've had quite enu-hu-hu-huuuuff
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving And revolving at 900 miles an hour It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned The sun that is the source of all our power The sun and you and me, and all the stars that we can see Are moving at a million miles a day In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour Of the Galaxy we call the Milky Way
Our Galaxy itself contains 100 billion stars It's 100,000 light-years side-to-side It bulges in the middle, 16,000 light-years thick But out by us it's just 3000 light-years wide We're 30,000 light-years from galactic central point We go round every 200 million years And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding In all of the directions it can whiz As fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure How amazingly unlikely is your birth And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space Because there's bugger all down here on Earth
So it's not necessarly that I disagree with you, it's that my ISP does.
That's why I asked you to consider asking your ISP to pay your content fees;-). If subscription models don't work (and they won't in the long run if individuals have to pay sites directly - noone wants to pay 50 monthly bills and manage all the subscriptions), sites will ask ISPs to pay for the content.
Large sites can easily force ISPs to pay by otherwise denying access to their customers (by blocking the ISPs IP range). Someone with enough weight has to be the first to do it, though (perhaps a conglomerate of high quality web sites or someone like CNN). So, it's not altogether unlikely that at some point your ISP will offer a "basic" access package that only gives you the connection and traffic, as well as a "premium" package that allows you to access those sites that charge your ISP for the content.
You missed the point - you pay for the access, but you don't pay for the content. You can use up all the bandwith you want, your ISP will see to that, but please don't tell content providers that you don't want to pay for their content because you already pay for the traffic. That has nothing to do with it.
Slashdot Mirror
... like the cost of bribing a politician, which seems to be much lower these days.
-lj
Have a look at this: review 1, review 2
The demise of the legendary AR series was much more of a loss to me (and many other fanatic players, I presume). Only 2 out of 7(?) parts were released and judging from Philip Price's obvious talents, all 7 would have been worthwhile. There was an attempt around 1995 to develop "Alternate Reality Online" (www.aro.com, now defunct) by Philip Price and Gary Gilbertson (the 2 people responsible for the first AR game, AFAIK), but apparently it never went far.
Amaya
I'm all for standards, but they should have a basis in reality (read: working implementations) and not be some committee's idea of a good idea.
An alternative would be the also brand-new NEC ND-1100A: prices. Here's a news item at heise.de (German, translated by Google)
The other points apply just as much to many other places in the IT industry, except for the fact that you get less attention (and a higher salary instead) - I work 80-100 hours/week too and we're shipping every day. :-/ (btw., I have had some insight into the game industry - I even almost signed a contract to join an EA subsidiary in 1999 ... Hey, they expected me to work only 50 hours/week ;-)).
* you can't beat the best google-spammers in the end ... they're always smarter, quicker, difficult to identify
... let's hope this isn't a reason
* worse rankings with a particular keyword mean that a company will seriously consider using AdWords to maximize the traffic gain from google - so hey, it's good for google
* the big mistake is to use a "static" relationship between websites as a measure for a site's traffic or importance - better offer a "google counter" (google has the resources, I suppose)
All things considered, Google is still doing pretty well.
-lj
Also "Save as" for attachments is mostly broken - doesn't allow me to save with another extension if Mozilla thinks the MIME type deserves to get an .exe appended to it.
Another problem is that I have to download every f.cking 120-400KB mail virus if I want to delete it (at least there's no obvious way to delete messages without downloading them).
-lj
The e-mail client is still broken. Somehow I don't like reading all the hype about new features, faster rendering etc. while essential basic functions still don't work reliably.
The RIAA doesn't need to care about bad press and PR. Your average consumer will acknowledge how evil that organization is, but still purchase happily from its members. They aren't called "RIAA" and there is no connection obvious to the consumer. -lj
... as long as they provide all the necessary information to Open Source developers. Ah yes, and they should also stop using components made by companies who don't provide information.
Current versions of PostgreSQL no longer have such limits (they're much higher, a single field can use up to 1GB ...).
Maybe it isn't free advertising. Commercial sites such as CNET's are very interested in the slashdot crowd ;-)
Make that a "crappy Intel processor". My Sony has a mobile 1GHz P3 CPU, which I usually operate in "speed-step" mode (clocked at 750MHz). The case still gets so hot that it's almost unbearable when I have it sitting on my lap.
What a piece of rubbish. Sony should be ashamed.
Your nationalist views are stupid and short-sighted, IMHO.
Re-reading your comment, I noticed that you actually meant companies who included Open Source software in their commercial software packages... My rant wasn't specific to that situation, but to the use (not commercial re-distribution) of Open Source software by companies in general. So, it's just a rant ;-)
Companies need long-term planning for their investments. Personally, I'd rather pay $1000 for software knowing that it goes to a company that is most likely going to be supporting the software for the next 2 years, than $500 for a package where this is not likely at all. Unfortunately, only very few O.S. projects come with some sort of established development process that guaratees that they're going to be "supported" (bug fixes...) in the next 2 years.
Also, the best Open Source programs are so popular and widespread that you get your support for them elsewhere (contracting...), so money spent by companies "on" these products goes to those other people. Finally, don't expect a company to donate money if it doesn't have some visible positive effect on the company itself ...
IMHO, Open Source developers need to find business models that work well together with their products, e.g. web server software developers re-selling SSL certificates (I don't care where I get mine, and I don't mind paying slightly more if the money goes to the right people), compiler tools programmers offering affiliate links to recommended books about programming languages etc. ... It's much easier to say "thank you" by chosing you as the reseller of something (not merchandise, unless it's something really useful!) you're going to buy anyway at more or less the same price, than by donating money with nothing in return.
Look around - the market is dominated by specific brands and product series, which don't have any competition. MS Office, Adobe Photoshop etc. have a firm grip on the market and other products are not even granted a closer look. People don't even mind paying more for products of inferior quality, as long as they are "compatible" with what is considered the "standard". So, it's just logical that companies invest more in sales & advertising than quality assurance. :-)
I guess we should be happy that they don't link to Apple and Microsoft as well ;-)
You can get 256MB PC2100 (CL2.5) in good old Europe for under 70 Euros including (local) sales tax. And the Euros are pretty cheap at the moment, too :-/.
DDR prices.
Whenever life get you down, Mrs. Brown
And things seem hard or tough
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enu-hu-hu-huuuuff
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at 900 miles an hour
It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned
The sun that is the source of all our power
The sun and you and me, and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour
Of the Galaxy we call the Milky Way
Our Galaxy itself contains 100 billion stars
It's 100,000 light-years side-to-side
It bulges in the middle, 16,000 light-years thick
But out by us it's just 3000 light-years wide
We're 30,000 light-years from galactic central point
We go round every 200 million years
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whiz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space
Because there's bugger all down here on Earth
That's why I asked you to consider asking your ISP to pay your content fees ;-). If subscription models don't work (and they won't in the long run if individuals have to pay sites directly - noone wants to pay 50 monthly bills and manage all the subscriptions), sites will ask ISPs to pay for the content.
Large sites can easily force ISPs to pay by otherwise denying access to their customers (by blocking the ISPs IP range). Someone with enough weight has to be the first to do it, though (perhaps a conglomerate of high quality web sites or someone like CNN). So, it's not altogether unlikely that at some point your ISP will offer a "basic" access package that only gives you the connection and traffic, as well as a "premium" package that allows you to access those sites that charge your ISP for the content.