It's copy protection, alright, but it's one of the least intrusive and user-friendly ones I've seen. You can play your games in offline mode, download and play them on any number of other computers with your login name, pre-load new games, create mods that can use your games' engines and assets (if you're into that). I see Steam as more of a convenience then a restraint. Steam is good for game developers too because it has near-zero distribution costs and is very effective at preventing piracy and cheating.
Why is it that every PS3 article has to be negative and every Wii article has to be approving? This particular post could just as well be titled "Only 7% cares about Wii's motion sensing" if/. wasn't so blindly anti-Sony and pro-Nintendo. (To clarify, I'm not a Sony fan myself, but continuous bias is just plain annoying).
What has prevented Bill Clinton, together with Al Gore, from doing anything about global warming?
Katrina isn't all that unusual, and there is no proof whatsoever that it was caused by global warming. There have always been hurricanes of varying strength in the region; it's certainly not a modern phenomenon (neither are the "heat waves").
Feeling ashamed is what environmentalists want us to do; this way they get to sell us green credits and give funding to their research projects.
I just don't see how remembering a dozen gestures would be more difficult then remembering a dozen keyboard shortcuts. In my experience, keyboard shortcuts are way faster too. Gestures are very effective for tasks like resizing/arranging windows and interacting with games. But that's about it. Keyboard/mouse (or keyboard/trackball) are much more efficient for most tasks.
I think you have the definition of morality mixed up. moral[ity] refers to "principles of right and wrong in behavior." Morality is based on values - social and personal. Legislating morality is certainly none of government's business; it cannot dictate people what to value. So, in saying that "Enforcing morality is the government's ONLY job" you are contradicting yourself.
I do agree that protecting liberty and security are two of the most important functions of a government. This includes protection of citizens against aggression, fraud, theft, etc. This does not include dictating right from wrong, especially when it comes to things like entertainment. Defining and promoting moral behavior is the job of individuals and parents.
Windows Vista is so secure that it takes 7 steps and 5 confirmation dialogs to delete a desktop shortcut. Now that's what I call a streamlined interface.
People in this debate often assume that the anti-regulation crowd in the global warming debate is the only side that is motivated by greed/profit. And that the climate scientists, environmentalists and politicians are driven by the unselfish love of Earth and humanity. This is not at all the case.
If the human-caused CO2-driven global warming theory is accepted by the world's governments (U.S. especially) as an absolute truth, there will be a lot of money to grab: climate change research grands, government subsidies for "green" fuels/vehicles, expansive federal programs, etc. There certainly is money to be made from global warming acceptance, don't forget about that. Oil companies are not the only ones looking for extra cash.
For $299.99, they got a Asus EN7600 GT (350 MHz). That seems unwise to me because, for $10 less, they could have gotten a much faster XFX 7900GT (470 MHz) or, for the same $299, they could have gotten another XFX card overclocked to 520 MHz. I own the latter card, and am very happy with it. And don't get me started on Radeon X1300...
For a non-hardcore-FPS-gamer it's closer to 6-7 hours of gameplay, especially if you haven't played previous HL games. Besides, there's an enjoyable commentary mode - add another 5 hours. The game is, by the way, very replayable. And, there is Lost Coast (ok, it's just 30 min or so, but it's fun anyway), and two outstanding multiplayer games: good old Half-Life: Deathmatch (Source'd up a bit) and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. I think this is a helluva package for just $20 (or $18 if you pre-ordered). My only complain is the soundcache-related bug that sometimes causes 1-3 second lags in the game.
If the ISPs are really short on money, I'd rather pay $5 extra per month then have ISPs write down everything I download. But, honestly, I think there is more then enough capacity in fiber optic cables that are already installed.
UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz) already started its own videogame library in preparation for its new Computer Science & Videogame Design major that starts in 2007. The plan is to accept games as donations from students, and purchase several consoles and powerful PCs to play them. Also, many colleges with videogame design/engeneering majors already have notable videogame collections.
Adoption of digital projectors in our area (Los Angeles) had an exact opposite effect me and my peers.
The awful new motion blur and raised ticket prices drove us away from movie theaters. The last movie we watched was Star Wars Ep.III, and opening titles were smudged by the new projectors to an almost unreadable state. Later, I got the movie on DVD, and it looked a whole lot better. Then I tried to get it on my cable provider's on demand service, and 1080i signal looks even better.
From now on I will just be buying movies on demand - they cost 3 times less then the DVD this way anyway. That is, if they actually make any decent movies this year...
I can already see some hardware company, like Intel, striking a deal with MS to bump up its rank in "performance rating" window and maybe add a few banners at the bottom of a page as part of "System Performance Advisor." How in the world would Microft come up with a rating for every piece of hardware that may be plugged into the system? Certainly not by testing it...
I honestly don't see how piracy can be rooted out in Russia any time soon. I lived in Zheleznodorozhnyj (near Moscow) for 15 years and the amount of "intellectual property" flowing around is humongous. Out 2000-odd local area network had a dozen local ftp servers filled to the rim with hundreds of gigabytes DVD rips, albums, software and what not. I myself shared 50 gigs or so (shh! don't tell anyone...) It is practically impossible to find legitimate copies of CDs and DVDs, no matter how many tons of pirated discs they publicly crush with bulldozers every week!
And, as many people previously commented, it is most rediculous to prevent such a large and influential country to enter WTO because of IP.
I agree. I, personally, define algorythms as application-nonspecific programming structures. For example, patenting a unique 3D-renderer library is fine by me. But patenting the very mathematical processes involved is not. Imagine a patent for "computer software that utilizes sines and cosines to draw dots in 3D space". I'm hoping that such "inventions" will not become abundant. I hope my wording wasn't too blurry...
- Matvei M.S.
The problem with patenting algorythms and functions is in the very concept and purpose of computers. Programming languages are basically tools for expressing thoughts. As human toungues are used for expressing speakable words, programming languages are used to implement thinking processes of the mind. Data is non-material, and computers merely receive, process and output data, as human nervous system does. Algorythms are same as thoughts - they are ways of analyzing and processing data.
Patenting physical devices (ever computer hardware) is fine by me, but patenting algorythms is comparable to patenting and restricting ways of thinking. Imagine what would happen if a law ordered people to think (or avoid thinking) in a certain way...
I am not saying that everything on the computer must be completely patent-free. I believe that only unique, sophisticated and unparalleled applications should be allowed to be patented by the US Patent Bureau, for a limited time.
Slashdot Mirror
Even worse, imagine programming with voice recognition.
system. dot. out. dot. print. open parenthesis. double quote. hello world. exclamation mark. double quote. close parenthesis. semicolon. newline.
Go back earlier, Mosaic 1.0 displayed the webpage and its address in 1993: [screenshot].
It's copy protection, alright, but it's one of the least intrusive and user-friendly ones I've seen. You can play your games in offline mode, download and play them on any number of other computers with your login name, pre-load new games, create mods that can use your games' engines and assets (if you're into that). I see Steam as more of a convenience then a restraint. Steam is good for game developers too because it has near-zero distribution costs and is very effective at preventing piracy and cheating.
With all the other lapses in this article and its summary, I am tagging it "troll"
Why is it that every PS3 article has to be negative and every Wii article has to be approving? This particular post could just as well be titled "Only 7% cares about Wii's motion sensing" if /. wasn't so blindly anti-Sony and pro-Nintendo. (To clarify, I'm not a Sony fan myself, but continuous bias is just plain annoying).
Yahoo Finance News article has detailed information on the ruling.
The glaciers are melting! Well, except for all those ones that are growing, or otherwise not changing.
What has prevented Bill Clinton, together with Al Gore, from doing anything about global warming?
Katrina isn't all that unusual, and there is no proof whatsoever that it was caused by global warming. There have always been hurricanes of varying strength in the region; it's certainly not a modern phenomenon (neither are the "heat waves").
Feeling ashamed is what environmentalists want us to do; this way they get to sell us green credits and give funding to their research projects.
I just don't see how remembering a dozen gestures would be more difficult then remembering a dozen keyboard shortcuts. In my experience, keyboard shortcuts are way faster too. Gestures are very effective for tasks like resizing/arranging windows and interacting with games. But that's about it. Keyboard/mouse (or keyboard/trackball) are much more efficient for most tasks.
I think you have the definition of morality mixed up. moral[ity] refers to "principles of right and wrong in behavior." Morality is based on values - social and personal. Legislating morality is certainly none of government's business; it cannot dictate people what to value. So, in saying that "Enforcing morality is the government's ONLY job" you are contradicting yourself.
I do agree that protecting liberty and security are two of the most important functions of a government. This includes protection of citizens against aggression, fraud, theft, etc. This does not include dictating right from wrong, especially when it comes to things like entertainment. Defining and promoting moral behavior is the job of individuals and parents.
Windows Vista is so secure that it takes 7 steps and 5 confirmation dialogs to delete a desktop shortcut. Now that's what I call a streamlined interface.
People in this debate often assume that the anti-regulation crowd in the global warming debate is the only side that is motivated by greed/profit. And that the climate scientists, environmentalists and politicians are driven by the unselfish love of Earth and humanity. This is not at all the case.
If the human-caused CO2-driven global warming theory is accepted by the world's governments (U.S. especially) as an absolute truth, there will be a lot of money to grab: climate change research grands, government subsidies for "green" fuels/vehicles, expansive federal programs, etc. There certainly is money to be made from global warming acceptance, don't forget about that. Oil companies are not the only ones looking for extra cash.
For $299.99, they got a Asus EN7600 GT (350 MHz). That seems unwise to me because, for $10 less, they could have gotten a much faster XFX 7900GT (470 MHz) or, for the same $299, they could have gotten another XFX card overclocked to 520 MHz. I own the latter card, and am very happy with it. And don't get me started on Radeon X1300...
For a non-hardcore-FPS-gamer it's closer to 6-7 hours of gameplay, especially if you haven't played previous HL games. Besides, there's an enjoyable commentary mode - add another 5 hours. The game is, by the way, very replayable. And, there is Lost Coast (ok, it's just 30 min or so, but it's fun anyway), and two outstanding multiplayer games: good old Half-Life: Deathmatch (Source'd up a bit) and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. I think this is a helluva package for just $20 (or $18 if you pre-ordered). My only complain is the soundcache-related bug that sometimes causes 1-3 second lags in the game.
Graphics were very impressive, yes. But the lipsync was very poorly done. It's really distracting at times.
If the ISPs are really short on money, I'd rather pay $5 extra per month then have ISPs write down everything I download. But, honestly, I think there is more then enough capacity in fiber optic cables that are already installed.
Winamp + MP3Tag + discogs.com + a lot of spare time = perfectly organized collection.
UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz) already started its own videogame library in preparation for its new Computer Science & Videogame Design major that starts in 2007. The plan is to accept games as donations from students, and purchase several consoles and powerful PCs to play them. Also, many colleges with videogame design/engeneering majors already have notable videogame collections.
Adoption of digital projectors in our area (Los Angeles) had an exact opposite effect me and my peers. The awful new motion blur and raised ticket prices drove us away from movie theaters. The last movie we watched was Star Wars Ep.III, and opening titles were smudged by the new projectors to an almost unreadable state. Later, I got the movie on DVD, and it looked a whole lot better. Then I tried to get it on my cable provider's on demand service, and 1080i signal looks even better. From now on I will just be buying movies on demand - they cost 3 times less then the DVD this way anyway. That is, if they actually make any decent movies this year...
I can already see some hardware company, like Intel, striking a deal with MS to bump up its rank in "performance rating" window and maybe add a few banners at the bottom of a page as part of "System Performance Advisor." How in the world would Microft come up with a rating for every piece of hardware that may be plugged into the system? Certainly not by testing it...
I honestly don't see how piracy can be rooted out in Russia any time soon. I lived in Zheleznodorozhnyj (near Moscow) for 15 years and the amount of "intellectual property" flowing around is humongous. Out 2000-odd local area network had a dozen local ftp servers filled to the rim with hundreds of gigabytes DVD rips, albums, software and what not. I myself shared 50 gigs or so (shh! don't tell anyone...) It is practically impossible to find legitimate copies of CDs and DVDs, no matter how many tons of pirated discs they publicly crush with bulldozers every week! And, as many people previously commented, it is most rediculous to prevent such a large and influential country to enter WTO because of IP.
When a practical project starts with a PR campaighn and a "vision statement," as well as leadership
I agree. I, personally, define algorythms as application-nonspecific programming structures. For example, patenting a unique 3D-renderer library is fine by me. But patenting the very mathematical processes involved is not. Imagine a patent for "computer software that utilizes sines and cosines to draw dots in 3D space". I'm hoping that such "inventions" will not become abundant. I hope my wording wasn't too blurry... - Matvei M.S.
The problem with patenting algorythms and functions is in the very concept and purpose of computers. Programming languages are basically tools for expressing thoughts. As human toungues are used for expressing speakable words, programming languages are used to implement thinking processes of the mind. Data is non-material, and computers merely receive, process and output data, as human nervous system does. Algorythms are same as thoughts - they are ways of analyzing and processing data.
Patenting physical devices (ever computer hardware) is fine by me, but patenting algorythms is comparable to patenting and restricting ways of thinking. Imagine what would happen if a law ordered people to think (or avoid thinking) in a certain way...
I am not saying that everything on the computer must be completely patent-free. I believe that only unique, sophisticated and unparalleled applications should be allowed to be patented by the US Patent Bureau, for a limited time.
- Matvei M.S