That is at least a good sign. I just hope that there isn't enough "videogames promote violence" backlash to create a big push against M rated games. If they have to be sold in a separate section of the store where minors are not admitted, that is a lot more like X movies than R.
It's not like R rated movies can't have a shitload of violence in them. Just no full nudity (Oh my god, the human body is HORRIBLE).
I am totally for this sort of thing in general. There is no reason not to limit what young impressionable people are able to do without parental consent.
One thing that worries me is comparing this to the movie industry.
An R rating in the movie industry isn't good for the film, but it certainly isn't a fatal blow. An X rating is, however.
What is the difference? Both ratings indicate that the movie should not be seen by children. But since the restricions on R movie admittance are so lax, it doesn't REALLY mean no minors.
But an X rating does. And virtually no mainstream movies are made with X ratings because it would kill their sales. Especially since no suburban cineplex will screen an X rated film. There ARE legitimate films that were cut (or never made) to avoid an X rating. And there are adults who wouldn't mind seeing the uncut version. But any film with an X rating is construed as pornography.
So, the bottom line is that I don't want the M rating to become the equivalent of an X rating. That is, something that hurts the games sales so much that games are modified by the developer to avoid the rating.
If they start to really enforce the M rating and many games change their content to drop just below the M threshold, we may lose the others since it might not be profitable to produce them.
Isn't the point that you wouldn't have to give out your CC # unencrypted to anyone?
Yes, if they got your card number you'd be equally screwed, but this would potentially insulate you from merchants, dumpster divers, etc. from getting your number off the receipts.
True, but that just seems more annoying to me. How the hell does this guy write on anything?
While it would be nice to be able to build a hutch/printer stand/etc on top of the desk, it would still be a lot more flexible if you could change any of it.
But since the person who ordered it was apparently some overpaid weenie that was being catered to by a stupid high tech company, he probably wouldn't reconfigure it anyways.
A true geek would have no pride in using a LEGO desk unless he made it himself.
I bet after using it for a bit he'll want a normal desk.
If I gave you a phone number to call to get some crack, I bet I could end up in jail.
Linking to a site with illegal content is certainly different than linking to yahoo. Especially if I knowingly do it (i.e. the link say "go here to get your kiddie porn/warez/etc.")
I would have thought one of the "cool" things about a lego desk would be the ability to reconfigure it. Gluing them all together makes that kind of hard.
I would have thought that you could design it such that the normal locking action of the pieces was strong enough to keep it together.
You've got to listen to me. Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok in an orgy of blood and kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.
According to my calculations, the robots won't go berserk for at least 24 hours.
Given the current Linux market, I'd agree. Games probably won't sell anywhere near as well on Linux, even given better support.
But there is more than one variable in this equation. If the Linux market changed because of the availability of games, and their ease of use on the platform was better, I'd disagree with you.
I play plenty of games, and I have some experience running Unices. But I HAVE to run Windows at home to get compatibility with my favorite games. I like Q3, but there are a lot of others out there.
What if Linux evolved to the point that you could tell gamers "Hey, we've got a rock solid OS that's easy to install and games run very quickly on it."
Don't you think we'd see a rise in Linux users?
And don't start with the "we don't want those types of users". When it comes to market share, we just need numbers. If the Linux market share rose to %20 don't you think that more software companies would make Linux ports a priority?
This relates to my previous post. I don't believe there is any way to get the compressed data out of this machine in a digital format. A firewire or 100BT port would be quite useful, but would probably piss off scads of industry execs.
A removable hard drive hack would be great. If the file system is non standard, it would have to be reverse engineered.
But if you could come up with a way to pull the drive and plug it into your PC, that would be pretty cool.
I think it will sound more and more appealing as CPU speeds increase (software encoding becomes easier) and hard disks continue to grow. I imagine soon that one will be able to have a wide selection of movies/shows stored the same way you can have a large number of mp3's today.
As far as privacy goes, if you did make your own linux DVR, you could connect to it remotely, tell it to record whatever you wanted, and no one but you would know.
Commercials pay for the content you are watching on television. Broadcast TV is still free to watch, provided you use an antenna.
If the majority of the people defeat their advertising mechanism, they will be forced to increase their revenue through other means.
Is this really such a good outcome?
It's like what would happen if everyone started using junkbusters to strip banner ads (lets pretend.com's actually have to make money for a second). The web sites would have to look for other ways of making money. Would you like to have to sign up with your credit card and pay a few cents every time you look at a web site ? That would really suck, I'll take the banner ad at the top thanks.
Just from the title of this, I have to take offense.
> it's really dim to show bias towards someone because they have a degree
I'd say it's really dim to hire someone without a degree, at least in this field.
Sure, it's ok to hire some IT guy that doesn't have a degree but has been playing with computers all his life. I'm sure there are lots of qualified people in those fields with no degree. Besides, CS degrees are about programming, not setting up firewalls and replacing motherboards.
But we're talking about Aerospace Engineering, Physics, etc.
Here, your "screw the degree" idea fails in two ways.
First, how many people are self taught to the equivalent of a PhD level in these fields? Not very many I can assure you. At least not nearly as many who are self taught to be the equivalent of an MSCE (I'm guessing 95% of/.'s readers would qualify for that).
Second, if you look at what it takes to get a PhD in one of these fields, you would realize how poorly your own experience maps onto this group of people. Getting a PhD is NOTHING like getting a BS. Most of the time spend in graduate school is spend doing research towards your thesis. Completing your thesis shows not only that you are capable of research, but you took on a long term project and were able to complete it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every PhD is good at real world problems. But if I had to choose between a PhD and someone who is "self taught", all things being equal I'd go with the PhD to design the next space shuttle, thanks.
It looks like a Linux box equivalent has already been made. Here's one example. They used software from linuxtv.org. (As it turns out, I've used their PCB software, pretty good for small stuff.)
Wow, if this thing had a firewire port or some other high speed way to get data off it I might consider it. The tech specs on their website only mention a serial port, which doesn't sound to me like a high speed interface.
Are there any hacks out there to make the hard drive removable so one could load it up into your computer? If I could record a months worth of the Simpsons, pull the drive, put it in my computer, and burn to multiple CDs, I'd be all over it. It would save me the trouble of compressing all that stuff.
Without that, it's functionally equivalent to a VCR jukebox with some fancy programming options. Not worth $500 IMO.
If they wanted a 10,000 node beowolf cluster of desktop PCs, they would buy it. (and get use out of the machines 24/7)
These screensavers are great for groups like SETI that may not have quite the same resources, but this isn't likely going to become a breakthrough in medical research.
Slashdot Mirror
That is at least a good sign. I just hope that there isn't enough "videogames promote violence" backlash to create a big push against M rated games. If they have to be sold in a separate section of the store where minors are not admitted, that is a lot more like X movies than R.
It's not like R rated movies can't have a shitload of violence in them. Just no full nudity (Oh my god, the human body is HORRIBLE).
We are morons.
No, just a redundant one.
http://slashdot.org/comm ents.pl? sid=00/09/07/1658220&cid=158
I am totally for this sort of thing in general. There is no reason not to limit what young impressionable people are able to do without parental consent.
One thing that worries me is comparing this to the movie industry.
An R rating in the movie industry isn't good for the film, but it certainly isn't a fatal blow. An X rating is, however.
What is the difference? Both ratings indicate that the movie should not be seen by children. But since the restricions on R movie admittance are so lax, it doesn't REALLY mean no minors.
But an X rating does. And virtually no mainstream movies are made with X ratings because it would kill their sales. Especially since no suburban cineplex will screen an X rated film. There ARE legitimate films that were cut (or never made) to avoid an X rating. And there are adults who wouldn't mind seeing the uncut version. But any film with an X rating is construed as pornography.
So, the bottom line is that I don't want the M rating to become the equivalent of an X rating. That is, something that hurts the games sales so much that games are modified by the developer to avoid the rating.
If they start to really enforce the M rating and many games change their content to drop just below the M threshold, we may lose the others since it might not be profitable to produce them.
Isn't the point that you wouldn't have to give out your CC # unencrypted to anyone?
Yes, if they got your card number you'd be equally screwed, but this would potentially insulate you from merchants, dumpster divers, etc. from getting your number off the receipts.
the artists should sue the record companies for a share once MP3.com has been bled dry.
True, but that just seems more annoying to me. How the hell does this guy write on anything?
While it would be nice to be able to build a hutch/printer stand/etc on top of the desk, it would still be a lot more flexible if you could change any of it.
But since the person who ordered it was apparently some overpaid weenie that was being catered to by a stupid high tech company, he probably wouldn't reconfigure it anyways.
A true geek would have no pride in using a LEGO desk unless he made it himself.
I bet after using it for a bit he'll want a normal desk.
If I gave you a phone number to call to get some crack, I bet I could end up in jail.
Linking to a site with illegal content is certainly different than linking to yahoo. Especially if I knowingly do it (i.e. the link say "go here to get your kiddie porn/warez/etc.")
cot
I would have thought one of the "cool" things about a lego desk would be the ability to reconfigure it. Gluing them all together makes that kind of hard.
I would have thought that you could design it such that the normal locking action of the pieces was strong enough to keep it together.
Hmm, ok. I thought that the quote made the usage and definition at least partially clear.
BTW, what's it take to get that nice shiny +1 bonus? I thought it was 25 points, but apparently not. I checked the faq but didnt see it.
No false in there. It's
"But with him out of the picture, I was free to wallow in my own crapulence."
from the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode.
(You can find this stuff quite easily using the search engine at snpp.com
You'll remember such witty comments as this from here and here.
(I only got a 3 for that! I'm just feeling sorry for myself cause I got modded down for the first time ever on this story)
You've got to listen to me. Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok in an orgy of blood and kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.
According to my calculations, the robots won't go berserk for at least 24 hours.
<Robots go on rampage>
Oh, I forgot to, er, carry the one.
I also find FreeBSD's installation procedure quite straightforward, and I am by no means an expert.
I certainly would say it's as easy to install as pre 6.x Redhat.
Anyways, don't be intimidated by FreeBSD, hell it's only time. Take an hour or two and give it a shot.
Once it's going, good God, the ports and packages are GREAT. Installing new software through one of these two methods works very well.
And just how much effort did it take to get those two games working?
Come on, be honest.
Did you download a new version of X for either of them?
Yes and No.
Given the current Linux market, I'd agree. Games probably won't sell anywhere near as well on Linux, even given better support.
But there is more than one variable in this equation. If the Linux market changed because of the availability of games, and their ease of use on the platform was better, I'd disagree with you.
I play plenty of games, and I have some experience running Unices. But I HAVE to run Windows at home to get compatibility with my favorite games. I like Q3, but there are a lot of others out there.
What if Linux evolved to the point that you could tell gamers "Hey, we've got a rock solid OS that's easy to install and games run very quickly on it."
Don't you think we'd see a rise in Linux users?
And don't start with the "we don't want those types of users". When it comes to market share, we just need numbers. If the Linux market share rose to %20 don't you think that more software companies would make Linux ports a priority?
cot
This relates to my previous post. I don't believe there is any way to get the compressed data out of this machine in a digital format. A firewire or 100BT port would be quite useful, but would probably piss off scads of industry execs.
A removable hard drive hack would be great. If the file system is non standard, it would have to be reverse engineered.
But if you could come up with a way to pull the drive and plug it into your PC, that would be pretty cool.
I think it will sound more and more appealing as CPU speeds increase (software encoding becomes easier) and hard disks continue to grow. I imagine soon that one will be able to have a wide selection of movies/shows stored the same way you can have a large number of mp3's today.
As far as privacy goes, if you did make your own linux DVR, you could connect to it remotely, tell it to record whatever you wanted, and no one but you would know.
NASA employee's are human. Humans are fallible.
Such is life. Tough shit.
I take it you never make mistakes?
Commercials pay for the content you are watching on television. Broadcast TV is still free to watch, provided you use an antenna.
.com's actually have to make money for a second). The web sites would have to look for other ways of making money. Would you like to have to sign up with your credit card and pay a few cents every time you look at a web site ? That would really suck, I'll take the banner ad at the top thanks.
If the majority of the people defeat their advertising mechanism, they will be forced to increase their revenue through other means.
Is this really such a good outcome?
It's like what would happen if everyone started using junkbusters to strip banner ads (lets pretend
Just from the title of this, I have to take offense.
/.'s readers would qualify for that).
> it's really dim to show bias towards someone because they have a degree
I'd say it's really dim to hire someone without a degree, at least in this field.
Sure, it's ok to hire some IT guy that doesn't have a degree but has been playing with computers all his life. I'm sure there are lots of qualified people in those fields with no degree. Besides, CS degrees are about programming, not setting up firewalls and replacing motherboards.
But we're talking about Aerospace Engineering, Physics, etc.
Here, your "screw the degree" idea fails in two ways.
First, how many people are self taught to the equivalent of a PhD level in these fields? Not very many I can assure you. At least not nearly as many who are self taught to be the equivalent of an MSCE (I'm guessing 95% of
Second, if you look at what it takes to get a PhD in one of these fields, you would realize how poorly your own experience maps onto this group of people. Getting a PhD is NOTHING like getting a BS. Most of the time spend in graduate school is spend doing research towards your thesis. Completing your thesis shows not only that you are capable of research, but you took on a long term project and were able to complete it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every PhD is good at real world problems. But if I had to choose between a PhD and someone who is "self taught", all things being equal I'd go with the PhD to design the next space shuttle, thanks.
Linuxmedialabs.com place seems to sell boards, but not for cheap.
You could also buy a standard tvtuner board and use these or these drivers.
Wow, if this thing had a firewire port or some other high speed way to get data off it I might consider it. The tech specs on their website only mention a serial port, which doesn't sound to me like a high speed interface.
Are there any hacks out there to make the hard drive removable so one could load it up into your computer? If I could record a months worth of the Simpsons, pull the drive, put it in my computer, and burn to multiple CDs, I'd be all over it. It would save me the trouble of compressing all that stuff.
Without that, it's functionally equivalent to a VCR jukebox with some fancy programming options. Not worth $500 IMO.
cot
The AMD Duron is the Celeron competitor. It has 64K L2 cache.
The AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) is the PIII (Coppermine) competitor.
Supposedly, we will see an Athlon Thunderbird with more on die cache, and that will be the Xeon competitor. (The "Athlon Professional" I think)
The Sledgehammer, being a 64 bit chip, will most closely compete with Intel's Merced (Itanium) or McKinley.
cot
I mean, all these years, and no conclusive evidence. I'd say that's pretty successful. cot
Look, big medical companies have deep pockets.
If they wanted a 10,000 node beowolf cluster of desktop PCs, they would buy it. (and get use out of the machines 24/7)
These screensavers are great for groups like SETI that may not have quite the same resources, but this isn't likely going to become a breakthrough in medical research.
cot