From the following article "Toshiba Working With Microsoft On New Entertainment Xbox" http://www.smarthousenews.com.au/Games_And_Devices/Console?Article=/Games%20And%20Devices/Console/P4G5C3U2 it looks like the Xbox is going to get an inbuilt HD-DVD drive plus HDMI output, wireless, possibly a HD Tuner and a large capacity disk drive and is going to be sold as an entertainment hub. This is all well and good but what about those people (over 11 million of them) who purchased the Xbox360, does this mean that all games will now be on HD-DVD media or will games still come out on DVD (a HD-DVD player can read DVD and HD-DVD) and possibly require the hard drive?
I think we will now find Microsoft in a real dilemma since to compete effectively with the PS3 (does not have a HD tuner yet but PVR is touted for 2008) which is now dropping significantly in price they are going to have another massive loss as they try to compete. Yes Microsoft has deep pockets but their Shareholders are going to get really pissed off.
As I have mentioned if you have purchased an Xbox360 is your purchase now heading for the scrap heap? (the original Xbox lasted about four years) If it is you now have many very disgruntled Xbox360 owners and if the new Xbox360HD-DVD (hmm! can I patent or copyright that name) still only requires DVD's for games and HD-DVD for movies then people are going to ask why do we need this if the new machine costs significantly more than the PS3 and if they aren't getting any extra functionality except for a media center which you can actually get on the Xbox360 now.
I can understand Toshiba working with Microsoft on this because if you are looking at the numbers of HD-DVD's to Bluray disks you really do need to take into account the PS3 because every PS3 game is on Bluray and even though the overall Bluray disks that have movies on them is maybe approx one or two million (HD-DVD is much less then that) the number of games for the PS3 increases the total number of Bluray disks to well over 10 million (I am under estimating here) and Sony is now not only pushing the PS3 as a games machine but also as a Bluray player as well. This is not lost on Toshiba who really need the new Xbox360HD model to be successful.
We are heading for interesting times over this coming year and it should be interesting to hear the spin put out by the Microsoft PR department.
Maybe that was a few years ago but when I consult I rarely wear a suit or tie although I normally wear comfortable and neat cloths. In many cases CEO's are normally suspicious of technical consultants if they wear suits although it is expected that the sales people wear suits. The main rules in the meetings I attend have nothing to do with dress code but to make sure everyone turns off their mobile and unless there are special reasons, typing on your PC or PDA is the hight of bad manners. In fact most of the consulting meetings I attend pen and paper are the preferred data entry medium.
The Sega Megadrive/Genius had a rumble vest although it wasn't so elaborate. I actually saw some of these in Tandy about two years ago and they quite cheap although all you could do with them was to salvage parts unless you could find a Sega game that supported the vest. The Megadrive vest was quite bulky although it was quick to put on and take off, however I have no idea of the actual price of the vest when it first came out.
The problem with any add-on device is actually price with respect to the actual console or games machine price. There will always be some who will buy but for widespread purchase you need a significant (approx 20% or less) price differential between the add-on and the price of the console. Having that "must-have or be square" ethos is also another selling point but price is normally the best factor. I suppose this was why the Sony Dualshock (1998) was a successful add-on compared to add-ons for other gaming machines.
I think the bottom line for this vest will be cost compared to console so if the vest is say between US$100 and US$200 it would be more acceptable on a PC, PS3 and Xbox360 than on the Wii but if there is enough coolness factor and is supported by Game companies then you never know.
Well if you can connect a trackball mouse (they are not that expensive) to the Xbox360 (you can with a PS2 and PS3) via USB then providing the game supports the peripheral then it would work. Still if the mouse does not work on the game you want to play you could always use it on your PC:-)
I have just recently got Psychonauts and am playing it on my PS3 which really IMHO makes the game look fantastic on a HDTV. The game from my perspective is what I would call fun and challenging although not overly hard (so far) but it has very unusual and quirky game-play with excellent voice acting which are some of the things I actually look for in a game that IMHO is sadly missing from many of the games on the so called next generation consoles.
As far as porting Psychonauts to the Wii it may be possible, however according to some sources the barrier of porting the game to the Gamecube and thus to the Wii is due to the fact that there weren't enough buttons on the controller, although I would withhold judgement on that. Still you do need to select powers really quickly if you want to defeat some bosses.
Psychonauts like Okami is a game that is IMHO original and unusual however it also got lost in the huge amount of games that are available for the PS2 and unfortunately was a loss maker for the company even though the game reviewers raved about it. I think they may have broken even now, but it hurt the company. All the above aside I cannot see a Wii version being made since the current game-play would not be suitable for the Wii-mote, still you never know.
As far as RTS games go they would work on the standard definition display of the Wii but at the moment the RTS game developers are not really that interested in the Wii, preferring high resolution graphics and game-play requiring serious computing power. That may change in the future but I really would not hold my breath waiting.
In Australia the new 40GB PS3 IMHO (AU$699 - includes tax - US$625) would definitely be a "no-buy" for me if I did not have a PS3 already since I don't particularly want to have a PS2 (I do have a Gamecube but that is different) in my TV cabinet just so I can play PS2 games, anyway a 40GB PS3 plus a PS2 is only marginally cheaper than the 60GB PS3 since this comes with an extra controller, two reasonable PS3 games and possibly a Bluray movie. Still I can understand although I think it is short-sighted, that Sony would bring out a 40GB PS3 without backward compatibility and it will give the PS3 a boost over the Christmas period. I hope that they do continue to support and enhance backwards compatibility for those people who have these consoles and it may be possible (warning crystal ball gazing here) that even the 40GB PS3 will have a firmware update that will allow for backwards compatibility (it is feasible). The 80GB and 60GB PS3 models do have the a PS2 graphics engine for the backwards compatibility and now this has been removed it requires a change to the emulation software if Sony wishes to finance the backwards compatibility software development team to do this, anyway only time will tell. If this is done then the 40GB PS3 would be a very good buy.
It must be realised that a PS2 game sale even though played on a PS3 is still revenue for Sony, however if you believe the marketing droid's, that for many backwards compatibility is not important. For me and quite a few others (read millions) backwards compatibility is important and I am very pleased I got my 60GB PS3 (approx US$407 at the time) when I did since I now have a very good versatile games (PS1/2/3) machine. One thing I am curious about is the potential PVR capabilities although I may need a bigger drive if I want to do this, however 120GB or 160GB 2.5" drives are not expensive.
I live in Australia and PS3, Wii and Xbox360 games cost about the same that being AU$99 (US$89) including taxes. Note I am quoting for a similar popular game across all platforms although to be fair the Wii games are approx 5% to 10% cheaper but while PS3 and Xbox360 games do drop significantly by approx 30% to 50% within six months the Wii games remain at a high price for much longer. Of course if the game is a stinker the price of game drops quickly so the retailer can just get rid of the game.
Personally I don't find many games on the PS3 that are a "must-have" yet, however I can equally say the same for the Wii and the Xbox360 so I am quite happy to buy PS2 games which I like since the PS2 is still a well supported console and because of this I save money (PS2 games vary from AU20 to AU$30 for older and second hand games). An attractive feature of my 60GB PS3 is it's ability to smooth and upscale PS1 (good but not spectacular) and PS2 (excellent) games to my HDTV. I even get rumble with a Dualshock 2 if the game supports it and if I turn it on.
It is even worse when reading a Science Fiction book from the 1960's back and the author describes vacuum tube technology. The best SF Authors try not to go into any scientific detail that way their books hardly date, although their works normally get classified as Fantasy rather than Science Fiction.
Thanks for the info. At least the US and Japan do have hardware and software emulation so it may be possible that a later firmware release will improve the existing software backwards compatibility which our Australian PS3 can use.
Having gone from the PS1 to the PS2 to the PS3 (with other systems sprinkled in, of course), the ability to play old games plays heavily into which system I purchase. My wife only wants one gaming system sitting under our TV.
Actually my wife is the same although she does not mind the Gamecube which is in a lower shelf and effectively out of sight. What she hates is cables on the floor and wireless controllers solve this problem.spare time.
The computer was always meant to help the user accomplish tasks.
Fully agree with you there.
But how can a user get anything done when they are buried waste deep in training manuals? Linux has a steep learning curve, most people will agree.
Well here is one who strongly disagrees. All OS's that have a GUI allow the user to select an application without him/her having to read a manual, however once they are in their application they should have a good idea on how to use it and if that requires reading a manual or on-line help then so be it. What I have just said actually applied to Unix and other OS's running a GUI back in the late 1970's and it is no different today with any GUI be it Linux, MAC, MS Windows or Unix.
The bottom line is that Linux or Unix for that matter does not require you to read through mountains of manuals, it never has, however to be fair it really depends on what you are doing. A senior Systems Administrator is always aware that a huge amount of documentation exists and knows how to search and get the most out of it. A normal user only needs to know how to login and select their required applications and with a GUI this is trivial.
It takes a specific type of person to get Linux running and to a point where it can be productive even for nontechnical users (which is the majority of users that use computers).
Linux is surprisingly easy to install and has been for some time. The only problems you can have is with hardware that does not have supporting Linux drivers, although this is actually getting better. Most people can't install a Microsoft OS from scratch either but are shielded from this with a factory install. It is unfortunate that it is rare to get a factory installed and configured Linux.
Linux has so much to offer that other OSs don't even come close to delivering, but let's tie all of those together to make something that's both powerful and usable at the same time.
I won't disagree but I find Linux works well for me and my family (in fact my wife prefers it over MS Windows) as my primary OS for home use. It is unfortunate that my work requires me to use MS Win XP Pro since some of the applications I am required to use are MS Windows specific although I can and do dual boot to Linux when consulting or out in the field.
I would not have purchased a PS3 but I got a really good deal when I used my PS2 (over 5 years old) as a trade-in in to get an Australian PS3 for AU$499 (US$407 at the time) even though I knew backwards compatibility since it is done in software was not that good (approx 60%). I was delighted when about two weeks later V1.8 came out which boosted compatibility to above 85%. Since the PS3 does upscale and smooth PS1 and PS2 games my old games have that extra playability when viewed on a HDTV, so much so that I don't miss not having many PS3 games that I like, in addition PS2 games are so much cheaper so I save money.
While I don't begrudge Sony selling cut down PS3's I hope they still support backwards compatibility on machines that can support this, after all I don't think they actually have a huge team developing and upgrading firmware and backwards compatibility software. There is little cost to make firmware upgrades available unlike hardware which does require development costs and the actual cost of the physical component.
I would assume the above is the US and the Japanese versions, however the PS3 I have is the 60GB Australian model which is similar to the European one and has backwards compatibility which I want, but done in software. I know that the difference between my model and the new 40GB model will have only 2 USB ports and no card memory (SD , Compact Flash and Memory Stick) and no backwards compatibility. The first two differences is not that big a deal since you can use a USB extender which is quite cheap for memory and peripherals, as for 60GB to 40GB again not a big deal since you can upgrade to a much bigger drive without voiding warranty. What I am interested in knowing is what actually has been taken out of the 40GB PS3 compared to the European 60GB model that stops backwards compatibility.
I can sort of understand Sony's reasoning behind bringing out the 40GB PS3 since many people don't care about backwards compatibility and a cheaper console will most likely lead to quite good console sales this coming Christmas, but to say that money could be better spent on games (I thought that was up to Game Developers) rather than upgrading the firmware (about 120MB) to support backwards compatibility is just plain PR spin (read bull-shit). I cannot see a huge team of programmers working on the firmware and backwards compatibility and anyway it is not like Sony has to spend money when a new firmware release is ready.
I am very pleased with backwards compatibility since I still play PS2 games and because the PS3 does upscale and smooth PS1 and PS2 games this really adds to playability of my PS2 games. I also save quite a bit on new games since PS2 games are very much cheaper than PS3 games and there are plenty of IMHO good PS2 games (in fact too many) that I really like. Because of this I am quite happy to wait for PS3 games that I like. I have looked at the Wii and the Xbox360 and IMHO there is not many games on them that I like either.
No they did not find any turtle shell, however I have it on good authority that they found some leathery grey substance but some guy's flashing UU badges came and took it. It's funny though no one saw what vehicle they came in.
The PS3 might be a technically nice machine, but it is supposed to be a gaming machine, not a complete home media solution.
The PS3 is whatever you want it to be. It can be one of or a combination of gaming, Linux PC, media centre, movie player (DVD, BD and even movie files like mp4), Web browser (not that great but it does work) and it can work well with a PSP (if you have one). The one thing you should get if you are considering buying one or even an Xbox360 is a HDTV and IMHO the bigger the better (depends what you can afford). Even the Wii looks good on most HDTV's 42" and under. If you cannot afford a HDTV (in the US a 32" HDTV can be got for well under US$500) well why are you even considering a PS3, Xbox360 or Wii since game prices are very much on par.
Please don't think I dislike Nintendo because I have a NES, SNES and a Gamecube and I do enjoy some of their games which I can only play on their consoles, but the fact remains from my observation that Gamecube and now Wii game prices remain fairly static (unless the game is a real stinker) over a longer period of time than either Xbox, PS2, PS3 and Xbox360 games. This can actually tip the balance in favor (IMHO) of the more expensive console. Of course some people don't even think along these lines.
I think the bottom line is if you want and can justify a console then pick one that suites your financial situation and lifestyle, remembering to take games and potential games or movies or whatever into account. In other words do some homework.
I have never been a fan of hand held game machines and that includes Gameboy, Colour Gameboy and Gameboy Advance since I always find he screen too annoyingly small which actually gives a migraine after about an hours play. My eldest son recently purchased a PSP and a few games and I found that I could actually play for sometime on the PSP without getting a headache. One nice feature was the size which does fit my hands and not cramp them like other hand helds's do and my hands are average size.
One thing I suggested to my son was he get a plastic stick-on screen protector and he has done that (IMHO this is essential if you get a PSP or any hand held game machine for that matter). I was also surprised that he actually put home-brew on his PSP which he did successfully and now he has so many games (most quite legal) that it is impossible to play them all although he does like to get the odd PSP game (most are PS2 ports) on occasion. He can also backup his memory card (2GB) to his PC if it gets too full. From my perspective I find the PSP is well engineered and surprisingly comfortable to play although IMHO the black one is a fingerprint magnet (that is why my son got the white one). In all honesty though I still prefer a console game over a hand held but then again each to their own.
I am a little confused here. Why are you searching in the include files? I know you can say something like "GPL v2 in the header of each file, but if you state GPL v2 then you should be searching the actual file containing the GPL v2 words.
Searching the GPL v2 file:
$ grep -i "later version" license.txt
later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions
either of that version or of any later version published by the Free
(at your option) any later version.
I could have used "wc" but i think the above lines are enough.
The license.txt file I am searching is the GPL version 2 and it does have "later version" in it. I have seen a GPL V2 file with the following.
Note that the only valid version of the GPL for MediaTomb is this particular
version of the license (ie v2, not v2.2 or v3.x or whatever), unless
explicitly otherwise stated.
The above was added to the beginning of the GPL v2 text so I would assume this was the authors wishes and I personally would not make changes without his permission, GPL or anything else for that matter, but how binding this is I don't know. Unfortunately if you publish anything today you better have selected an appropriate license or have a good lawyer if you want to "roll your own".
Actually the Article is not that clear who the 6% of developers that are adopting the GPL3. If they are Redhat and IBM and they rather like the GPL3 http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-6171921-7.html then you have nearly 40% of Linux development. Throw in HP and possibly Novell then you can add another 5% to 10% more. I can't see SUN going down the GPL3 path but then you never know. Can anyone shed any light on this because the article does not really say that much although I did find the source of the data at the Evans Data Corporation site http://www.evansdata.com/ but again that was not that helpful since you have to have to register.
When I got my new laptop (2GB memory and dual core cpu) it came with Vista Ultimate 64bit. I did not notice any performance issues since it booted up reasonably quickly. I very quickly noticed that it basically had nothing except a 3 months free subscription to some virus protection software and plenty of vendor crapware. Some of my colleagues were impressed by the new (for want of a better word) desktop and were a little shocked when I informed them that I was going to install 64 bit Fedora 7.
I did make a backup DVD since I sell my laptop again after 12 months and I will let the reader guess what the prospective buyer wants. After backup I fully installed Fedora 7 (no dual boot) and configured it (about 3 hours) and I have a fantastic platform. I have even installed Beryl/Compriz but I hardly use it since I prefer KDE, still it is useful to compare against Vista since Beryl does have a "wow!" interface, while Vista on the other hand has a "meh!' interface.
Before everyone tries to install Fedora a word of caution. You need to have good System Administration and fault-finding skills because every time I get a new kernel (approx every three weeks) I have to reinstall my Nvidia drivers which is an extra 5 minutes work for me and the same goes for my wireless card. There are more but not necessarily better user friendly Linux distros than Fedora 7 and I normally try to dissuade people from using Fedora 7 unless they are keen to really learn Linux.
To be fair Linux is not for everyone especially if you are dependent on Microsoft centric products and games (privately I am not). If you have a company laptop/PC chances are you have no choice but to use a Microsoft OS. The company I work for does allow us to choose what OS we use as long as we can do our work and like it or not I have to use Security software that is Microsoft Centric (XP to be precise) although I do have a dual boot to PCLinuxOS which works very well.
Actually the vast majority of people who do buy a HDTV do want to display movies at the higher resolution and currently the PS3 is one the cheapest and best High Def movie players in the market. Since it also can upscale DVD's as well, your DVD's will look quite good on a HDTV although don't think they are going to look as good as a BD movie, whereas a US$50 DVD player will only play SD to a HDTV set. Personally I would get a HD/DVD recorder rather than a cheap $50 DVD player since it is much more flexible and I can record a show then play it back via my recorder at 578p on my HDTV which actually smooths the picture. If I really like and wish to keep a show I can burn it to a DVD and can play it back via my PS3 which makes the picture look so much better again on my HDTV.
Currently the Standard Definition (SD) market consists of 480 (NTSC) and 576 (PAL) while the High Definition (HD) market consists of 720p (1280x720 pixels) and 1080p (1920x1080 pixels) a good primer is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television. Once people get a HDTV they don't want to go back to SDTV.
The only way BD and/or HD-DVD will become dominant is when the Movie industry decides to drop DVD and I can't see that happening yet. It will happen but when I don't know.
The top of the HDTV market is 1080p which is 1920 x 1080 pixels on a 40" to over 50" screen (depends on what you can afford). The low end of the HDTV market is 720p which is 1280 x 720 pixels. Most standard PC monitors are very much smaller than 32" and those that can support higher resolutions than 1920 x 1080 are not what I would call cheap, couple that with a high end graphics card plus gaming PC and you could probably buy a PS3, Wii and Xbox360 plus a reasonable HDTV and still have plenty of change left over for a few games for all of them.
PC and console gaming fill different needs. With console gaming you put your disk in and play unlike PC gaming which does require you to set up your PC to play the game although sometimes it can be easy, but it is a real pain when the game has annoying bugs and you have to download patches. I will concede that on-line gaming using a PC is IMHO better than than on-line gaming with a console although the PS3 and Xbox360 are rapidly closing the gap. I know that you can just plug a keyboard and mouse (wireless or wired) into the PS3 and it works although their use does depend on the game.
You can connect your PS2 dualshock via an adapter to the PS3 and providing you have PS1/2 games that support rumble your dualshock will rumble. Of course you will need firmware 1.8 or better.
Fedora, Scientific Linux, OpenSuSE and CentOS to name a few. Just pick "install everything" and you really get everything from a very good software development suite to Games, Office, Multimedia and Internet tools all from one DVD or CD set. Then if you have an Internet connection you can use tools like yum and yast to install a huge amount of software (thousands of programs). In addition the software installers will sort out dependencies for you as well as allowing you to maintain your software as well.
If you use Redhat derived Linux in a school or business environment you can use something like "Control Tower" or "Satellite Server" (these are commercial packages) to customise, maintain and even recover all your Linux machines. I am quite sure you can do the same for Debian based distributions as well.
CSIRO is a government body and even if companies start paying royalties CSIRO will see very little of it since it will go into consolidated revenue which hopefully will go to bribing (damn I cant find the ^H key) the voter with tax breaks.
Australia (read Government of the day) has for many years believed in what is called the "level playing field" the problem was Australia was always at the bottom, now the "shoe is on the other foot" the Government is a little confused especially since they should be pushing for royalties. It must be noted that CSIRO does not set royalties that is up to the Australian Government.
Slashdot Mirror
From the following article "Toshiba Working With Microsoft On New Entertainment Xbox" http://www.smarthousenews.com.au/Games_And_Devices/Console?Article=/Games%20And%20Devices/Console/P4G5C3U2 it looks like the Xbox is going to get an inbuilt HD-DVD drive plus HDMI output, wireless, possibly a HD Tuner and a large capacity disk drive and is going to be sold as an entertainment hub. This is all well and good but what about those people (over 11 million of them) who purchased the Xbox360, does this mean that all games will now be on HD-DVD media or will games still come out on DVD (a HD-DVD player can read DVD and HD-DVD) and possibly require the hard drive?
I think we will now find Microsoft in a real dilemma since to compete effectively with the PS3 (does not have a HD tuner yet but PVR is touted for 2008) which is now dropping significantly in price they are going to have another massive loss as they try to compete. Yes Microsoft has deep pockets but their Shareholders are going to get really pissed off.
As I have mentioned if you have purchased an Xbox360 is your purchase now heading for the scrap heap? (the original Xbox lasted about four years) If it is you now have many very disgruntled Xbox360 owners and if the new Xbox360HD-DVD (hmm! can I patent or copyright that name) still only requires DVD's for games and HD-DVD for movies then people are going to ask why do we need this if the new machine costs significantly more than the PS3 and if they aren't getting any extra functionality except for a media center which you can actually get on the Xbox360 now.
I can understand Toshiba working with Microsoft on this because if you are looking at the numbers of HD-DVD's to Bluray disks you really do need to take into account the PS3 because every PS3 game is on Bluray and even though the overall Bluray disks that have movies on them is maybe approx one or two million (HD-DVD is much less then that) the number of games for the PS3 increases the total number of Bluray disks to well over 10 million (I am under estimating here) and Sony is now not only pushing the PS3 as a games machine but also as a Bluray player as well. This is not lost on Toshiba who really need the new Xbox360HD model to be successful.
We are heading for interesting times over this coming year and it should be interesting to hear the spin put out by the Microsoft PR department.
Maybe that was a few years ago but when I consult I rarely wear a suit or tie although I normally wear comfortable and neat cloths. In many cases CEO's are normally suspicious of technical consultants if they wear suits although it is expected that the sales people wear suits. The main rules in the meetings I attend have nothing to do with dress code but to make sure everyone turns off their mobile and unless there are special reasons, typing on your PC or PDA is the hight of bad manners. In fact most of the consulting meetings I attend pen and paper are the preferred data entry medium.
The Sega Megadrive/Genius had a rumble vest although it wasn't so elaborate. I actually saw some of these in Tandy about two years ago and they quite cheap although all you could do with them was to salvage parts unless you could find a Sega game that supported the vest. The Megadrive vest was quite bulky although it was quick to put on and take off, however I have no idea of the actual price of the vest when it first came out.
The problem with any add-on device is actually price with respect to the actual console or games machine price. There will always be some who will buy but for widespread purchase you need a significant (approx 20% or less) price differential between the add-on and the price of the console. Having that "must-have or be square" ethos is also another selling point but price is normally the best factor. I suppose this was why the Sony Dualshock (1998) was a successful add-on compared to add-ons for other gaming machines.
I think the bottom line for this vest will be cost compared to console so if the vest is say between US$100 and US$200 it would be more acceptable on a PC, PS3 and Xbox360 than on the Wii but if there is enough coolness factor and is supported by Game companies then you never know.
Well if you can connect a trackball mouse (they are not that expensive) to the Xbox360 (you can with a PS2 and PS3) via USB then providing the game supports the peripheral then it would work. Still if the mouse does not work on the game you want to play you could always use it on your PC :-)
I have just recently got Psychonauts and am playing it on my PS3 which really IMHO makes the game look fantastic on a HDTV. The game from my perspective is what I would call fun and challenging although not overly hard (so far) but it has very unusual and quirky game-play with excellent voice acting which are some of the things I actually look for in a game that IMHO is sadly missing from many of the games on the so called next generation consoles.
As far as porting Psychonauts to the Wii it may be possible, however according to some sources the barrier of porting the game to the Gamecube and thus to the Wii is due to the fact that there weren't enough buttons on the controller, although I would withhold judgement on that. Still you do need to select powers really quickly if you want to defeat some bosses.
Psychonauts like Okami is a game that is IMHO original and unusual however it also got lost in the huge amount of games that are available for the PS2 and unfortunately was a loss maker for the company even though the game reviewers raved about it. I think they may have broken even now, but it hurt the company. All the above aside I cannot see a Wii version being made since the current game-play would not be suitable for the Wii-mote, still you never know.
As far as RTS games go they would work on the standard definition display of the Wii but at the moment the RTS game developers are not really that interested in the Wii, preferring high resolution graphics and game-play requiring serious computing power. That may change in the future but I really would not hold my breath waiting.
In Australia the new 40GB PS3 IMHO (AU$699 - includes tax - US$625) would definitely be a "no-buy" for me if I did not have a PS3 already since I don't particularly want to have a PS2 (I do have a Gamecube but that is different) in my TV cabinet just so I can play PS2 games, anyway a 40GB PS3 plus a PS2 is only marginally cheaper than the 60GB PS3 since this comes with an extra controller, two reasonable PS3 games and possibly a Bluray movie. Still I can understand although I think it is short-sighted, that Sony would bring out a 40GB PS3 without backward compatibility and it will give the PS3 a boost over the Christmas period. I hope that they do continue to support and enhance backwards compatibility for those people who have these consoles and it may be possible (warning crystal ball gazing here) that even the 40GB PS3 will have a firmware update that will allow for backwards compatibility (it is feasible). The 80GB and 60GB PS3 models do have the a PS2 graphics engine for the backwards compatibility and now this has been removed it requires a change to the emulation software if Sony wishes to finance the backwards compatibility software development team to do this, anyway only time will tell. If this is done then the 40GB PS3 would be a very good buy.
It must be realised that a PS2 game sale even though played on a PS3 is still revenue for Sony, however if you believe the marketing droid's, that for many backwards compatibility is not important. For me and quite a few others (read millions) backwards compatibility is important and I am very pleased I got my 60GB PS3 (approx US$407 at the time) when I did since I now have a very good versatile games (PS1/2/3) machine. One thing I am curious about is the potential PVR capabilities although I may need a bigger drive if I want to do this, however 120GB or 160GB 2.5" drives are not expensive.
I live in Australia and PS3, Wii and Xbox360 games cost about the same that being AU$99 (US$89) including taxes. Note I am quoting for a similar popular game across all platforms although to be fair the Wii games are approx 5% to 10% cheaper but while PS3 and Xbox360 games do drop significantly by approx 30% to 50% within six months the Wii games remain at a high price for much longer. Of course if the game is a stinker the price of game drops quickly so the retailer can just get rid of the game.
Personally I don't find many games on the PS3 that are a "must-have" yet, however I can equally say the same for the Wii and the Xbox360 so I am quite happy to buy PS2 games which I like since the PS2 is still a well supported console and because of this I save money (PS2 games vary from AU20 to AU$30 for older and second hand games). An attractive feature of my 60GB PS3 is it's ability to smooth and upscale PS1 (good but not spectacular) and PS2 (excellent) games to my HDTV. I even get rumble with a Dualshock 2 if the game supports it and if I turn it on.
It is even worse when reading a Science Fiction book from the 1960's back and the author describes vacuum tube technology. The best SF Authors try not to go into any scientific detail that way their books hardly date, although their works normally get classified as Fantasy rather than Science Fiction.
Well here is one who strongly disagrees. All OS's that have a GUI allow the user to select an application without him/her having to read a manual, however once they are in their application they should have a good idea on how to use it and if that requires reading a manual or on-line help then so be it. What I have just said actually applied to Unix and other OS's running a GUI back in the late 1970's and it is no different today with any GUI be it Linux, MAC, MS Windows or Unix.
The bottom line is that Linux or Unix for that matter does not require you to read through mountains of manuals, it never has, however to be fair it really depends on what you are doing. A senior Systems Administrator is always aware that a huge amount of documentation exists and knows how to search and get the most out of it. A normal user only needs to know how to login and select their required applications and with a GUI this is trivial. Linux is surprisingly easy to install and has been for some time. The only problems you can have is with hardware that does not have supporting Linux drivers, although this is actually getting better. Most people can't install a Microsoft OS from scratch either but are shielded from this with a factory install. It is unfortunate that it is rare to get a factory installed and configured Linux. I won't disagree but I find Linux works well for me and my family (in fact my wife prefers it over MS Windows) as my primary OS for home use. It is unfortunate that my work requires me to use MS Win XP Pro since some of the applications I am required to use are MS Windows specific although I can and do dual boot to Linux when consulting or out in the field.
I would not have purchased a PS3 but I got a really good deal when I used my PS2 (over 5 years old) as a trade-in in to get an Australian PS3 for AU$499 (US$407 at the time) even though I knew backwards compatibility since it is done in software was not that good (approx 60%). I was delighted when about two weeks later V1.8 came out which boosted compatibility to above 85%. Since the PS3 does upscale and smooth PS1 and PS2 games my old games have that extra playability when viewed on a HDTV, so much so that I don't miss not having many PS3 games that I like, in addition PS2 games are so much cheaper so I save money.
While I don't begrudge Sony selling cut down PS3's I hope they still support backwards compatibility on machines that can support this, after all I don't think they actually have a huge team developing and upgrading firmware and backwards compatibility software. There is little cost to make firmware upgrades available unlike hardware which does require development costs and the actual cost of the physical component.
I can sort of understand Sony's reasoning behind bringing out the 40GB PS3 since many people don't care about backwards compatibility and a cheaper console will most likely lead to quite good console sales this coming Christmas, but to say that money could be better spent on games (I thought that was up to Game Developers) rather than upgrading the firmware (about 120MB) to support backwards compatibility is just plain PR spin (read bull-shit). I cannot see a huge team of programmers working on the firmware and backwards compatibility and anyway it is not like Sony has to spend money when a new firmware release is ready.
I am very pleased with backwards compatibility since I still play PS2 games and because the PS3 does upscale and smooth PS1 and PS2 games this really adds to playability of my PS2 games. I also save quite a bit on new games since PS2 games are very much cheaper than PS3 games and there are plenty of IMHO good PS2 games (in fact too many) that I really like. Because of this I am quite happy to wait for PS3 games that I like. I have looked at the Wii and the Xbox360 and IMHO there is not many games on them that I like either.
No they did not find any turtle shell, however I have it on good authority that they found some leathery grey substance but some guy's flashing UU badges came and took it. It's funny though no one saw what vehicle they came in.
Please don't think I dislike Nintendo because I have a NES, SNES and a Gamecube and I do enjoy some of their games which I can only play on their consoles, but the fact remains from my observation that Gamecube and now Wii game prices remain fairly static (unless the game is a real stinker) over a longer period of time than either Xbox, PS2, PS3 and Xbox360 games. This can actually tip the balance in favor (IMHO) of the more expensive console. Of course some people don't even think along these lines.
I think the bottom line is if you want and can justify a console then pick one that suites your financial situation and lifestyle, remembering to take games and potential games or movies or whatever into account. In other words do some homework.
I have never been a fan of hand held game machines and that includes Gameboy, Colour Gameboy and Gameboy Advance since I always find he screen too annoyingly small which actually gives a migraine after about an hours play. My eldest son recently purchased a PSP and a few games and I found that I could actually play for sometime on the PSP without getting a headache. One nice feature was the size which does fit my hands and not cramp them like other hand helds's do and my hands are average size.
One thing I suggested to my son was he get a plastic stick-on screen protector and he has done that (IMHO this is essential if you get a PSP or any hand held game machine for that matter). I was also surprised that he actually put home-brew on his PSP which he did successfully and now he has so many games (most quite legal) that it is impossible to play them all although he does like to get the odd PSP game (most are PS2 ports) on occasion. He can also backup his memory card (2GB) to his PC if it gets too full. From my perspective I find the PSP is well engineered and surprisingly comfortable to play although IMHO the black one is a fingerprint magnet (that is why my son got the white one). In all honesty though I still prefer a console game over a hand held but then again each to their own.
Searching the GPL v2 file:
I could have used "wc" but i think the above lines are enough.
The license.txt file I am searching is the GPL version 2 and it does have "later version" in it. I have seen a GPL V2 file with the following. The above was added to the beginning of the GPL v2 text so I would assume this was the authors wishes and I personally would not make changes without his permission, GPL or anything else for that matter, but how binding this is I don't know. Unfortunately if you publish anything today you better have selected an appropriate license or have a good lawyer if you want to "roll your own".
Actually the Article is not that clear who the 6% of developers that are adopting the GPL3. If they are Redhat and IBM and they rather like the GPL3 http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-6171921-7.html then you have nearly 40% of Linux development. Throw in HP and possibly Novell then you can add another 5% to 10% more. I can't see SUN going down the GPL3 path but then you never know. Can anyone shed any light on this because the article does not really say that much although I did find the source of the data at the Evans Data Corporation site http://www.evansdata.com/ but again that was not that helpful since you have to have to register.
When I got my new laptop (2GB memory and dual core cpu) it came with Vista Ultimate 64bit. I did not notice any performance issues since it booted up reasonably quickly. I very quickly noticed that it basically had nothing except a 3 months free subscription to some virus protection software and plenty of vendor crapware. Some of my colleagues were impressed by the new (for want of a better word) desktop and were a little shocked when I informed them that I was going to install 64 bit Fedora 7.
I did make a backup DVD since I sell my laptop again after 12 months and I will let the reader guess what the prospective buyer wants. After backup I fully installed Fedora 7 (no dual boot) and configured it (about 3 hours) and I have a fantastic platform. I have even installed Beryl/Compriz but I hardly use it since I prefer KDE, still it is useful to compare against Vista since Beryl does have a "wow!" interface, while Vista on the other hand has a "meh!' interface.
Before everyone tries to install Fedora a word of caution. You need to have good System Administration and fault-finding skills because every time I get a new kernel (approx every three weeks) I have to reinstall my Nvidia drivers which is an extra 5 minutes work for me and the same goes for my wireless card. There are more but not necessarily better user friendly Linux distros than Fedora 7 and I normally try to dissuade people from using Fedora 7 unless they are keen to really learn Linux.
To be fair Linux is not for everyone especially if you are dependent on Microsoft centric products and games (privately I am not). If you have a company laptop/PC chances are you have no choice but to use a Microsoft OS. The company I work for does allow us to choose what OS we use as long as we can do our work and like it or not I have to use Security software that is Microsoft Centric (XP to be precise) although I do have a dual boot to PCLinuxOS which works very well.
Actually the vast majority of people who do buy a HDTV do want to display movies at the higher resolution and currently the PS3 is one the cheapest and best High Def movie players in the market. Since it also can upscale DVD's as well, your DVD's will look quite good on a HDTV although don't think they are going to look as good as a BD movie, whereas a US$50 DVD player will only play SD to a HDTV set. Personally I would get a HD/DVD recorder rather than a cheap $50 DVD player since it is much more flexible and I can record a show then play it back via my recorder at 578p on my HDTV which actually smooths the picture. If I really like and wish to keep a show I can burn it to a DVD and can play it back via my PS3 which makes the picture look so much better again on my HDTV.
Currently the Standard Definition (SD) market consists of 480 (NTSC) and 576 (PAL) while the High Definition (HD) market consists of 720p (1280x720 pixels) and 1080p (1920x1080 pixels) a good primer is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television. Once people get a HDTV they don't want to go back to SDTV.
The only way BD and/or HD-DVD will become dominant is when the Movie industry decides to drop DVD and I can't see that happening yet. It will happen but when I don't know.
The top of the HDTV market is 1080p which is 1920 x 1080 pixels on a 40" to over 50" screen (depends on what you can afford). The low end of the HDTV market is 720p which is 1280 x 720 pixels. Most standard PC monitors are very much smaller than 32" and those that can support higher resolutions than 1920 x 1080 are not what I would call cheap, couple that with a high end graphics card plus gaming PC and you could probably buy a PS3, Wii and Xbox360 plus a reasonable HDTV and still have plenty of change left over for a few games for all of them.
PC and console gaming fill different needs. With console gaming you put your disk in and play unlike PC gaming which does require you to set up your PC to play the game although sometimes it can be easy, but it is a real pain when the game has annoying bugs and you have to download patches. I will concede that on-line gaming using a PC is IMHO better than than on-line gaming with a console although the PS3 and Xbox360 are rapidly closing the gap. I know that you can just plug a keyboard and mouse (wireless or wired) into the PS3 and it works although their use does depend on the game.
You can connect your PS2 dualshock via an adapter to the PS3 and providing you have PS1/2 games that support rumble your dualshock will rumble. Of course you will need firmware 1.8 or better.
Excellent answer. I was going to reply and I noticed you already did. Try not to think of "feeding the troll" but "educating the unenlightened". ;-)
Fedora, Scientific Linux, OpenSuSE and CentOS to name a few. Just pick "install everything" and you really get everything from a very good software development suite to Games, Office, Multimedia and Internet tools all from one DVD or CD set. Then if you have an Internet connection you can use tools like yum and yast to install a huge amount of software (thousands of programs). In addition the software installers will sort out dependencies for you as well as allowing you to maintain your software as well.
If you use Redhat derived Linux in a school or business environment you can use something like "Control Tower" or "Satellite Server" (these are commercial packages) to customise, maintain and even recover all your Linux machines. I am quite sure you can do the same for Debian based distributions as well.
CSIRO is a government body and even if companies start paying royalties CSIRO will see very little of it since it will go into consolidated revenue which hopefully will go to bribing (damn I cant find the ^H key) the voter with tax breaks.
Australia (read Government of the day) has for many years believed in what is called the "level playing field" the problem was Australia was always at the bottom, now the "shoe is on the other foot" the Government is a little confused especially since they should be pushing for royalties. It must be noted that CSIRO does not set royalties that is up to the Australian Government.
Err no that's New Zealand. :-)