How ironic that one of the copy-protected CDs is titled 'THE BAD PLUS' by Suspicious Activity.
And they really mean it!
Be rest assured Sony, that I will NEVER buy one of your invasive CDs.
There is no definitive way to say it will last twice as long, but from the chart it looks as if the fuel volume is about 2x that of the Methanol battery. Just a guess really.
I don't think it was sabotage, it was most likely not tested well, had issues with performance and was rushed to the market.
Why have an artificial 100 song limit? Good question.
Itunes compatible cell phones are inevitable, this first prototype just didn't cut the mustard.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Motorola_Rokr_E1/4505-6454 _7-31515635.html
ROKR review from CNET:
CNET editors' review
Editors' rating
Good
6.3
out of 10
Reviewed by:
Kent German and James Kim
Review date: 9/15/05
Release date: 9/7/05
Average user rating: 6.1
The good: Solid call and music playback quality; includes speakerphone and Bluetooth; bright display; user-friendly controls; integrated iTunes player.
The bad: Dull design; small 100-song memory; limited Bluetooth functionality; sluggish iTunes interface and transfer speeds; can't download songs wirelessly; VGA camera only.
The bottom line: The Motorola Rokr E1 takes a step toward integrating a usable audio jukebox into a functional cell phone, but the 100-song limit and the slow processor performance will disappoint iPod users looking to carry a single do-it-all device.
So it looks like just a shoddy product from Motorola. On a side note, a friend of mine just returned his Motorola cell phone for the second time, needless to say he did not like their products.
The 'Computer Space' Hot Circuits: web page dedicated to old arcade games is interesting. You can even download the ROM of each game and emulate it using MAME. FUN STUFF!:)
http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/cs98/Default .htm
Good quote:
There are deeper reasons why these games endure. Arcade games familiarized an entire generation with computers and screen-based interaction. They remain an object lesson in game design. Despite their technologically complex origins, they can be experienced as simple but intense pleasures, with engaging play mechanics and elegant interfaces. --Carl Goodman, Curator of Digital Media
Our technology uses Formira(TM) as a fuel (as opposed to methanol which is used by most other micro fuel cell developers). Formira(TM) is purified and modified formic acid. Formic acid is abundant in nature and its name was derived from the scientific name for the red ant, Formica Rufa, which produces it in large quantities. The high power capability and simple chemistry of Formira(TM) fuel cells allow us to build a product that is less complex than methanol systems and actually fits within portable devices.
It is interesting that a fuel cell that is very technologically advanced uses formic acid, a chemical produced by one of the smallest of animals, the ant. How many other innovations can be derived from studying the chemical processes in nature?
Nowhere on the Tekion site does it say how long the cell lasts, but from the chart shown here: http://www.tekion.com/business/index.htm you can derive that it will be at least twice as long as a conventional Li Ion battery. Excellent work!
Data works and the viewer changes to a view of the INTERIOR of the Microsoft Redmond Headquarters. A vast CHAMBER crammed with HUNDREDS of Microsoft DRONES standing upright in individual alcoves. They're everywhere -- on the ceiling, walls, floor. This is a GATES COLLECTIVE -- hundreds of Microsoft employees that form a gigantic "hive" mind. The Microsoft DRONES are half-man/half machine. No individual personalities. No feelings. They have only one goal in life: to assimilate new software into their databases. To become a Microsoft DRONE is to experience living death. When they speak, they speak as a collective -- thousands of voicespeaking as one:
GATES:
"Your software creative license defense perimeter is useless. You will be assimilated!"
That is the jist of the memo...why pay for Microsoft's products when others are giving it away.
Google will give away a lot of the features and services that were at one point a Microsoft monopoly.
Advice for Bill Gates, stop sending around memos and CREATE something INNOVATIVE and useful. Something that everyone can use and can download for free. Add some advertising to make up for the revenue loss maybe? Also, change the hideous Microsoft support websites that are not only hard to navigate, but usually end up causing more confusion for the average user (SEE: http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1173 as an example.)
Seems like the bottom line of expected profit will determine whether a bubble will burst. Besides, what more is an economic bubble than an overvalued profit making mechanism?
Profits don't seem to go too well with the open source definition shown here:
http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php
Do and should people profit from Open Source? If so, who? and how? Why does Open Source need investment? Why do people/companies need to profit from Open Source projects? Is it inherently wrong to look at profit as a desired end result for Open Source projects? If someone owns and patents an Open Source project or related project derived from Open Source, is it really Open Source?
In case you crash this satellite into the sun or it goes hurdling off into the nearest black hole, for the meager price of an additional $1 million, an uniterrupted signal will be beamed to your laptop for the duration of its expected lifespan. No more worrying about alien sabotage or space junk punching holes in your precious device, we have got it covered.
This way, you will never know that it has been destroyed, and you can still show off your $10 million toy to your jealous friends.
For that money you can buy a Netflix account and a DVD (DVD, surround sound, HDTV) home theater which will give you many more viewing options.
the other story sounds like something from www.fark.com
Like most people, I will wait it out until the dual-core chips / products are stable and less expensive.
Not everyone is playing Quake 4 and Half-Life 2 on a daily basis.
Dell shut down Dell's good reputation for service (probably its only strongpoint beside price) when it offshored its support services to foreign countries. I have heard numerous complaints about their new support being not very helpful. Apple, on the other hand, has produced new, highly popular products that many people seem to enjoy and actually use. People get excited about new products that are fun and well-designed. Dell seems to think that people only care about cheap PCs.
In a race to the bottom, Dell's stock has suffered. It is now just another PC Maker, with little or no excitement or fun. Yes they are cheap, but they are not very innovative.
Read this article, it talks a bit about Dell:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/BUSINESS/11/01/dell.ma in.reut/ On a personal note: NEVER buy a DELL printer, unless you enjoy a beeping misfit that jams intermittently during times it is needed most.
Add a wireless card, DVDRW drive and several USB ports and then it can be used as a phone, book reader, movie viewer, video game, language and typing tutor.
Maybe it can be networked to support a school tutoring program and free internet access?
Add Windows XP error reporting and Office assistants, and it can be used as an instant source of frustration and lamentation.
I couldnt get the worldchanging URL to load....maybe it could be used to support that site too.
"At the demonstration with other reporters, we were able to verify that the signals were being sent wirelessly, and checked the distance by GPS, but had to take the 50mW base station - and its omnidirectional antenna - on trust, since it was at the top of an 850ft mast. The demonstration will be repeated for the US press next week.
Before any of this happens, more demonstrations are needed, to show the system is robust against interference and multipath, and can operate in an area more crowded than 18 miles of swamp. It will also need to be approved by the FCC and other regulators round the world."
It sounds like a great idea, power-efficient and cheap technology will be widely used. But will the FCC approve or will they somehow change the spectrum licensing?
From: http://www.xgtechnology.com/faqs.asp#q16
"Some of the uses their website proposes are:
The initial market applications are expected to include, but are not limited to, the following:
Broadband Internet
Beyond 3G - Mobile Broadband
Cellular Telephones (800 MHz - Upgrade to Digital High-Speed Broadband)
Cable TV - Wireless
Cable TV - Wired
HDTV - Wireless
HDTV - Wired
Public Safety Communications (i.e. Police Cars, Fire Trucks, Ambulances, etc)
Satellite
Phones, TV, Radio
Broadband
Wireless LAN
Wireless ATM Circuit (622Mbs)
Ultra fast Bluetooth
Home Automation/Wireless Appliances
Ultra fast DSL
Video on Demand"
Pretty soon everyone will have a wireless network.
"To its credit, the State Department listened to the criticism. As a result, RFID passports will now include a thin radio shield in their covers, protecting the chips when the passports are closed. Although some have derided this as a tinfoil hat for passports, the fact is the measure will prevent the documents from being snooped when closed."
Well there has to be better protection for identity theft than having the passport closed all the time. You may not know whether it is open or closed, but it should have some way of notifying you if it is unsecured. How about having the passport just become a single card with some kind of flash memory built in?
There are many other scenarios where the RFID tags could be exploited, but you will first have to put on your tinfoil hat in order to even conceive of any of these conspiracies.
....the price will be determined by the standard of quality of the download.
If say the quality of the download is EXACTLY the same as a DVD, then you could charge about 75% of the full price of the DVD since you are not getting the case and the cover, nor are you incurring storage, shipping, and handling costs.
So a $16.00 DVD would be $12.00 to download if it indeed was an exact digital copy.
If the quality is degraded/compressed by a certain percentage, then you would apply the percentage of compression to the price, thereby lowering the cost even further.
Of course, once you own it, YOU OWN IT....meaning you are allowed to copy it as many times as you like for backup purposes.
Slashdot Mirror
I stand corrected....Bad Plus is the band, sorry guys and gals.
How ironic that one of the copy-protected CDs is titled 'THE BAD PLUS' by Suspicious Activity.
And they really mean it!
Be rest assured Sony, that I will NEVER buy one of your invasive CDs.
There is no definitive way to say it will last twice as long, but from the chart it looks as if the fuel volume is about 2x that of the Methanol battery. Just a guess really.
I don't think it was sabotage, it was most likely not tested well, had issues with performance and was rushed to the market.4 _7-31515635.html
Why have an artificial 100 song limit? Good question.
Itunes compatible cell phones are inevitable, this first prototype just didn't cut the mustard.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Motorola_Rokr_E1/4505-645
ROKR review from CNET:
CNET editors' review
Editors' rating Good 6.3 out of 10
Reviewed by: Kent German and James Kim
Review date: 9/15/05 Release date: 9/7/05 Average user rating: 6.1
The good: Solid call and music playback quality; includes speakerphone and Bluetooth; bright display; user-friendly controls; integrated iTunes player.
The bad: Dull design; small 100-song memory; limited Bluetooth functionality; sluggish iTunes interface and transfer speeds; can't download songs wirelessly; VGA camera only.
The bottom line: The Motorola Rokr E1 takes a step toward integrating a usable audio jukebox into a functional cell phone, but the 100-song limit and the slow processor performance will disappoint iPod users looking to carry a single do-it-all device.
So it looks like just a shoddy product from Motorola. On a side note, a friend of mine just returned his Motorola cell phone for the second time, needless to say he did not like their products.
Well not EACH game, but at least TRON, STAR WARS, PAC MAN and MISSLE COMMAND
The 'Computer Space' Hot Circuits: web page dedicated to old arcade games is interesting. You can even download the ROM of each game and emulate it using MAME. FUN STUFF! :)
t .htm
http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/cs98/Defaul
Good quote:
There are deeper reasons why these games endure. Arcade games familiarized an entire generation with computers and screen-based interaction. They remain an object lesson in game design. Despite their technologically complex origins, they can be experienced as simple but intense pleasures, with engaging play mechanics and elegant interfaces. --Carl Goodman, Curator of Digital Media
Our technology uses Formira(TM) as a fuel (as opposed to methanol which is used by most other micro fuel cell developers). Formira(TM) is purified and modified formic acid. Formic acid is abundant in nature and its name was derived from the scientific name for the red ant, Formica Rufa, which produces it in large quantities. The high power capability and simple chemistry of Formira(TM) fuel cells allow us to build a product that is less complex than methanol systems and actually fits within portable devices.
It is interesting that a fuel cell that is very technologically advanced uses formic acid, a chemical produced by one of the smallest of animals, the ant. How many other innovations can be derived from studying the chemical processes in nature?
Nowhere on the Tekion site does it say how long the cell lasts, but from the chart shown here: http://www.tekion.com/business/index.htm you can derive that it will be at least twice as long as a conventional Li Ion battery. Excellent work!
What are the steps I need to take to get "Window Shit" trademarked internationally?
1) Take a dump out your window
2) Film it and copyright/trademark/watermark/encrypt it
3) Done!
Data works and the viewer changes to a view of the INTERIOR of the Microsoft Redmond Headquarters. A vast CHAMBER crammed with HUNDREDS of Microsoft DRONES standing upright in individual alcoves. They're everywhere -- on the ceiling, walls, floor. This is a GATES COLLECTIVE -- hundreds of Microsoft employees that form a gigantic "hive" mind. The Microsoft DRONES are half-man/half machine. No individual personalities. No feelings. They have only one goal in life: to assimilate new software into their databases. To become a Microsoft DRONE is to experience living death. When they speak, they speak as a collective -- thousands of voicespeaking as one:
GATES:
"Your software creative license defense perimeter is useless. You will be assimilated!"
If no women are found on Venus, the mission is a total failure.
That is the jist of the memo...why pay for Microsoft's products when others are giving it away.
Google will give away a lot of the features and services that were at one point a Microsoft monopoly.
Advice for Bill Gates, stop sending around memos and CREATE something INNOVATIVE and useful. Something that everyone can use and can download for free. Add some advertising to make up for the revenue loss maybe? Also, change the hideous Microsoft support websites that are not only hard to navigate, but usually end up causing more confusion for the average user (SEE: http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1173 as an example.)
Hurry, time is limited, supplies are running out!
...but I was overshadowed by a brighter Java developer.
Seems like the bottom line of expected profit will determine whether a bubble will burst. Besides, what more is an economic bubble than an overvalued profit making mechanism?
2 6991
_ Way_to_Grow_Poor%2C_The_Way_to_Grow_Rich_--_Currie r_%26_Ives_1875.jpg
Profits don't seem to go too well with the open source definition shown here:
http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php
Do and should people profit from Open Source? If so, who? and how? Why does Open Source need investment? Why do people/companies need to profit from Open Source projects? Is it inherently wrong to look at profit as a desired end result for Open Source projects? If someone owns and patents an Open Source project or related project derived from Open Source, is it really Open Source?
Another interview with David Skok:
http://www.developer.com/java/other/article.php/6
A bubble cartoon from 1875.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/The
In case you crash this satellite into the sun or it goes hurdling off into the nearest black hole, for the meager price of an additional $1 million, an uniterrupted signal will be beamed to your laptop for the duration of its expected lifespan. No more worrying about alien sabotage or space junk punching holes in your precious device, we have got it covered.
This way, you will never know that it has been destroyed, and you can still show off your $10 million toy to your jealous friends.
For that money you can buy a Netflix account and a DVD (DVD, surround sound, HDTV) home theater which will give you many more viewing options.
the other story sounds like something from www.fark.com
Like most people, I will wait it out until the dual-core chips / products are stable and less expensive.
Not everyone is playing Quake 4 and Half-Life 2 on a daily basis.
Dell shut down Dell's good reputation for service (probably its only strongpoint beside price) when it offshored its support services to foreign countries. I have heard numerous complaints about their new support being not very helpful. Apple, on the other hand, has produced new, highly popular products that many people seem to enjoy and actually use. People get excited about new products that are fun and well-designed. Dell seems to think that people only care about cheap PCs.a in.reut/
In a race to the bottom, Dell's stock has suffered. It is now just another PC Maker, with little or no excitement or fun. Yes they are cheap, but they are not very innovative.
Read this article, it talks a bit about Dell:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/BUSINESS/11/01/dell.m
On a personal note: NEVER buy a DELL printer, unless you enjoy a beeping misfit that jams intermittently during times it is needed most.
Add a wireless card, DVDRW drive and several USB ports and then it can be used as a phone, book reader, movie viewer, video game, language and typing tutor.
Maybe it can be networked to support a school tutoring program and free internet access?
Add Windows XP error reporting and Office assistants, and it can be used as an instant source of frustration and lamentation.
I couldnt get the worldchanging URL to load....maybe it could be used to support that site too.
"At the demonstration with other reporters, we were able to verify that the signals were being sent wirelessly, and checked the distance by GPS, but had to take the 50mW base station - and its omnidirectional antenna - on trust, since it was at the top of an 850ft mast. The demonstration will be repeated for the US press next week.
Before any of this happens, more demonstrations are needed, to show the system is robust against interference and multipath, and can operate in an area more crowded than 18 miles of swamp. It will also need to be approved by the FCC and other regulators round the world."
It sounds like a great idea, power-efficient and cheap technology will be widely used. But will the FCC approve or will they somehow change the spectrum licensing?
From: http://www.xgtechnology.com/faqs.asp#q16
"Some of the uses their website proposes are: The initial market applications are expected to include, but are not limited to, the following:
Broadband Internet
Beyond 3G - Mobile Broadband
Cellular Telephones (800 MHz - Upgrade to Digital High-Speed Broadband)
Cable TV - Wireless
Cable TV - Wired
HDTV - Wireless
HDTV - Wired
Public Safety Communications (i.e. Police Cars, Fire Trucks, Ambulances, etc)
Satellite
Phones, TV, Radio
Broadband
Wireless LAN
Wireless ATM Circuit (622Mbs)
Ultra fast Bluetooth
Home Automation/Wireless Appliances
Ultra fast DSL
Video on Demand"
Pretty soon everyone will have a wireless network.
"To its credit, the State Department listened to the criticism. As a result, RFID passports will now include a thin radio shield in their covers, protecting the chips when the passports are closed. Although some have derided this as a tinfoil hat for passports, the fact is the measure will prevent the documents from being snooped when closed."
Well there has to be better protection for identity theft than having the passport closed all the time. You may not know whether it is open or closed, but it should have some way of notifying you if it is unsecured. How about having the passport just become a single card with some kind of flash memory built in?
There are many other scenarios where the RFID tags could be exploited, but you will first have to put on your tinfoil hat in order to even conceive of any of these conspiracies.
....the price will be determined by the standard of quality of the download. If say the quality of the download is EXACTLY the same as a DVD, then you could charge about 75% of the full price of the DVD since you are not getting the case and the cover, nor are you incurring storage, shipping, and handling costs.
So a $16.00 DVD would be $12.00 to download if it indeed was an exact digital copy. If the quality is degraded/compressed by a certain percentage, then you would apply the percentage of compression to the price, thereby lowering the cost even further.
Of course, once you own it, YOU OWN IT....meaning you are allowed to copy it as many times as you like for backup purposes.
Straight up or on the rocks?g
http://showtrials.com/pics/WOPR-SideView-small.jp
The question is, are they getting paid overtime? Time and a half?
Give me the HDDs and I will crack them in 90 seconds.
That's no moon, its a cyberspace station!