I think it's more about nailing the informer than squashing the rumor. Apple knows that they are confirming DrinkSecret's rumors by doing this, but they willing to do that to squash the source of the leak.
I agree, I hope that there is no jail time involved, just probation, community service and some stiff fines.
The guy knew he was making mischief, though, so I'm not TOTALLY sympathetic to him. Shining the laser on the police helicopter that was searching for him was a bad, bad idea.
The reason why he is so totally screwed is that the feds have to make an example of SOMEBODY. When lasers are selling for $100 on eBay, they are going to be ubiquitous, and until someone is made an example of, a lot of the people who buy them are going to aim them at airplanes for snorts and giggles, thinking that it's not a big deal. The government has to show them that YES, IT IS A BIG DEAL.
After all, how could something so simple as shining a beam on an airplane be a criminal act? But if this guy gets 25 years, it will send one hell of a shockwave through society and most people will get the message.
I imagine that even the prosecutors feel sorry for this guy, just some knucklehead who was goofing around with his kid, completely ignorant of how this would be interpreted. But they can't just let it go.
is that these new tech gadgets also connect two people on a wireless network after punching in some sort of code on the built-in numeric keypad, allowing them to use a sort of "voice chat".
Hopefully this feature won't interfere with the hard drive MP3 player and the 2 megapixel camera.
That's still 20-40%% of the production cost in real dollars saved by not porting it, when you know good and well that some 90% of the Linux audience already has a way to play your game. (And I'm just guessing at the 90% figure, but that sounds about right....)
So the question is, Why would you spend the additional money? To further satisfy the desires of a niche market you're already penetrating? What's the value proposition?
Gamers are a fickle lot; there is no brand loyalty. If a company spends money to generate goodwill among the Linux community, it means nothing by the time the game's sequel comes along. Your game either rocks or it sucks, and history has little to no bearing on sales.
And a problem that is exacerbated by online gaming is the constant stream of updates. A single player game can probably make due with only one or two patches to address the most serious bugs. An online game needs constant patching to keep up with the bugs, the hacks, the cheats, etc. So it's not just the initial development that you have to consider, but the ongoing development costs.
If I were a producer, there would have to be some other motivating factor, some extenuating circumstance that would cause me to consider Linux development. Seriously. And I say that as someone who was a Mac zealot from '84 to '96, and knows full well the agony of being the underdog when it comes to gaming.
is probably more about the fact that most Linux installations are on x86, in which case a lot of developers are going to assume that most Linux users are going to dual boot Windows to play games, or at the very least they can run WINE.
So, the real Linux development cost is measured against a much smaller subset of the Linux community, those hardcore users who refuse to dual boot.
Same situation for PPC users running Linux; develop for Mac OS, and let PPC users dual boot to play the game.
Strategically, it doesn't make a lot of sense to develop for Linux yet. There aren't yet enough Linux users who don't have access to Windows or Mac OS.
consider that they were doing it across 19 states. So, factor in travel expenses, hotel rooms, gas, vehicle wear, and eating restaurant food most of the time, so they probably averaged about $20,000 per person per year.
Boy, how stupid do you have to be to be willing to go to jail for a $20k/year job...
He sent a few emails, a couple to the hosting provider, and the hosting provider sent a threatening email.
Woot.
Isn't that the way the system is supposed to work?
Do I post a story to Slashdot because Wal-Mart sold me a defective MP3 player and I took it back to Customer Service to get my money back? "Yeah, baby! I won! It was just me versus WAL-MART, and I crammed it in their faces and they backed down! Woo hoo! I'm the king of the world!"
And did he really expect Network Solutions to intervene? When they let people register domains like "kiddieporn.com," do you think they give a rip what people are doing on the internet?
In a surprise move, McDonalds is offering a "Happy Meal" for adults. Called the "Macky Meal," it includes a budget Mac system, the Quadra Pounder, as well as a large fries and a large drink.
In a statement, Phil Schiller, VP of Marketing at Apple said, "The purpose of the Macky Meal is to satisfy the hunger of consumers for a great computer and a great meal. I'm lovin' it!"
It has video, fast ethernet, 56k modem, USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and wireless support all built in. So why would you want a PCI slot on an entry-level machine?
Probably to upgrade any of the above features. High-end video card, gigabit ethernet, FireWire 800, et al. But the problem is that Apple is very sensitive to the fact that this box might take sales away from their tower systems. Apple's margin is probably razor-thin on this box, and they would rather upsell you to a more profitable tower system if you want all of those features.
The wholesale cost of adding FireWire 800 and gigabit ethernet would have been marginal. But Apple is restricting the feature set so that you have to buy a tower if you want something that does more than web surfing and word processing.
Would it really be suicide for Apple to release for free all of the source code for the OS (not the individual apps, that would be a different argument)?
The fundamental question is do people generally buy an Apple for the OS?
Or does it have more to do with the carefully crafted image, design, and style of their hardware products (supported by their software design)?
People buy Macs for all of the above.
If Apple released ALL of their source code, for Aqua, iPhoto, iMovie, etc, etc, Apple would absolutely lose a large chunk of business. A group of programmers would port it all over to Linux within 6 months.
People buy Apple for the whole experience. If you take most of that experience, and port it over to x86, then you basically have people paying a premium for a fancy case. And guess what, there are knockoffs of those, too.
But they only choose not to do it by taking it away from everyone. If the choice is there, then they'll do it, too.
How many rich environmentalists drive SUV's? Even their presidential candidate drove one!
It's also like the "paying higher taxes" debate... liberals are free to give more money to the government, but do they? Of course not! They'll only feel good about giving if they force you to empty YOUR wallet first!
Now I guess I'll have to wait for a couple of years for Halo 2 to make it to Mac OSX.
AFAIK, Halo 2 has not even been announced for the PC yet, much less the Mac. It's possible that Bungie could skip Halo 2 for the PC and Mac, so you may have to invest in that XBox if you want to play it.
Except that in Doom, you could only look left-right, not up-down. That also meant the shooting was always straight ahead in Doom, so no shooting at flying robots swooping down on you like in Marathon. And no jumping in Doom, IIRC, rocket or otherwise.
Marathon players INVENTED the grenade-hop that was popular for so long, and some advanced players still use.
Doom was strictly run-and-gun, no storyline. The Marathon world was immersive, with a great sci-fi storyline that was constantly unfolding. I also believe that Marathon was also the first FPS to have NPC's that fought beside you. Nothing like finding yourself surrounded by a small army of the toughest aliens the game has to throw at you, and then suddenly a platoon teleports in to save yer ass. All of this five years before Half-Life.
Even today, id is still cranking out whack-a-mole FPS games, while other companies like Bungie and Valve take the genre and make it immersive.
No NORAD Santa tracker this year kids...
on
Ho, Ho, Ho
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Sorry, kids, but NORAD will not be tracking Santa this year. A suit filed in federal court on Tuesday by the ACLU and the People for the American Way alleges that any use of government computers to aid the fat man this year constitutes a clear violation of the separation of church and state.
In a related filing, the ACLU and PFTAW are bringing a class-action lawsuit against Santa, citing numerous cases of unlawful entry, breaking and entering, trespassing, as well as a civil complaint alleging illegal operation of a flying craft without proper inspections, piloting without a license, and flying through restricted airspace without proper security clearance and prior authorization.
Sorry, kids, Christmas is cancelled this year, and for the forseeable future. It looks like Santa will be spending the rest of his life in the pen, making big rocks into little rocks.
Re:Of course santa can deliver gifts to every chil
on
Ho, Ho, Ho
·
· Score: 1
I knew Slashdot catered to a younger audience, but this is ridiculous...
Re:More money than brains I guess
on
Re-Pet a Reality
·
· Score: 1
Squeezing wholesale prices is done at the corporate level. Hiring store clerks is done at the local level. The two have nothing to do with each other.
Besides, if there was some room left to squeeze wholesale prices, don't you think Wal-Mart would have already done it?
Slashdot Mirror
I think it's more about nailing the informer than squashing the rumor. Apple knows that they are confirming DrinkSecret's rumors by doing this, but they willing to do that to squash the source of the leak.
I agree, I hope that there is no jail time involved, just probation, community service and some stiff fines.
The guy knew he was making mischief, though, so I'm not TOTALLY sympathetic to him. Shining the laser on the police helicopter that was searching for him was a bad, bad idea.
The reason why he is so totally screwed is that the feds have to make an example of SOMEBODY. When lasers are selling for $100 on eBay, they are going to be ubiquitous, and until someone is made an example of, a lot of the people who buy them are going to aim them at airplanes for snorts and giggles, thinking that it's not a big deal. The government has to show them that YES, IT IS A BIG DEAL.
After all, how could something so simple as shining a beam on an airplane be a criminal act? But if this guy gets 25 years, it will send one hell of a shockwave through society and most people will get the message.
I imagine that even the prosecutors feel sorry for this guy, just some knucklehead who was goofing around with his kid, completely ignorant of how this would be interpreted. But they can't just let it go.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. If you're talking about having your personal information ransacked, then Windows wins again!
is that these new tech gadgets also connect two people on a wireless network after punching in some sort of code on the built-in numeric keypad, allowing them to use a sort of "voice chat".
Hopefully this feature won't interfere with the hard drive MP3 player and the 2 megapixel camera.
And I don't need no steenking $250 London Fog raincoat when a 10 cent Glad bag with a hole popped in the bottom for the head will work just fine!
Charleton Heston is to be commended for his struggle against those "damn dirty apes".
what's up with the "x-wing" type fighters though? they appear to have an extra wing in the middle...
That would be the "asterick wing" fighter...
80% sounds kind of high to me, but ok...
That's still 20-40%% of the production cost in real dollars saved by not porting it, when you know good and well that some 90% of the Linux audience already has a way to play your game. (And I'm just guessing at the 90% figure, but that sounds about right....)
So the question is, Why would you spend the additional money? To further satisfy the desires of a niche market you're already penetrating? What's the value proposition?
Gamers are a fickle lot; there is no brand loyalty. If a company spends money to generate goodwill among the Linux community, it means nothing by the time the game's sequel comes along. Your game either rocks or it sucks, and history has little to no bearing on sales.
And a problem that is exacerbated by online gaming is the constant stream of updates. A single player game can probably make due with only one or two patches to address the most serious bugs. An online game needs constant patching to keep up with the bugs, the hacks, the cheats, etc. So it's not just the initial development that you have to consider, but the ongoing development costs.
If I were a producer, there would have to be some other motivating factor, some extenuating circumstance that would cause me to consider Linux development. Seriously. And I say that as someone who was a Mac zealot from '84 to '96, and knows full well the agony of being the underdog when it comes to gaming.
is probably more about the fact that most Linux installations are on x86, in which case a lot of developers are going to assume that most Linux users are going to dual boot Windows to play games, or at the very least they can run WINE.
So, the real Linux development cost is measured against a much smaller subset of the Linux community, those hardcore users who refuse to dual boot.
Same situation for PPC users running Linux; develop for Mac OS, and let PPC users dual boot to play the game.
Strategically, it doesn't make a lot of sense to develop for Linux yet. There aren't yet enough Linux users who don't have access to Windows or Mac OS.
Of course, can't really expect an iD/Valve collaboration any time.. ever.
Why not? Ever play "Deathmatch Classic" in Half-Life? It's a Quake 1 multiplayer conversion for HL, that is distributed by Valve.
consider that they were doing it across 19 states. So, factor in travel expenses, hotel rooms, gas, vehicle wear, and eating restaurant food most of the time, so they probably averaged about $20,000 per person per year.
Boy, how stupid do you have to be to be willing to go to jail for a $20k/year job...
That's like saying your car comes from Yugoslavia's Finest!
Duh!
He sent a few emails, a couple to the hosting provider, and the hosting provider sent a threatening email.
Woot.
Isn't that the way the system is supposed to work?
Do I post a story to Slashdot because Wal-Mart sold me a defective MP3 player and I took it back to Customer Service to get my money back? "Yeah, baby! I won! It was just me versus WAL-MART, and I crammed it in their faces and they backed down! Woo hoo! I'm the king of the world!"
And did he really expect Network Solutions to intervene? When they let people register domains like "kiddieporn.com," do you think they give a rip what people are doing on the internet?
In a surprise move, McDonalds is offering a "Happy Meal" for adults. Called the "Macky Meal," it includes a budget Mac system, the Quadra Pounder, as well as a large fries and a large drink.
In a statement, Phil Schiller, VP of Marketing at Apple said, "The purpose of the Macky Meal is to satisfy the hunger of consumers for a great computer and a great meal. I'm lovin' it!"
It has video, fast ethernet, 56k modem, USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and wireless support all built in. So why would you want a PCI slot on an entry-level machine?
Probably to upgrade any of the above features. High-end video card, gigabit ethernet, FireWire 800, et al. But the problem is that Apple is very sensitive to the fact that this box might take sales away from their tower systems. Apple's margin is probably razor-thin on this box, and they would rather upsell you to a more profitable tower system if you want all of those features.
The wholesale cost of adding FireWire 800 and gigabit ethernet would have been marginal. But Apple is restricting the feature set so that you have to buy a tower if you want something that does more than web surfing and word processing.
Would it really be suicide for Apple to release for free all of the source code for the OS (not the individual apps, that would be a different argument)?
The fundamental question is do people generally buy an Apple for the OS?
Or does it have more to do with the carefully crafted image, design, and style of their hardware products (supported by their software design)?
People buy Macs for all of the above.
If Apple released ALL of their source code, for Aqua, iPhoto, iMovie, etc, etc, Apple would absolutely lose a large chunk of business. A group of programmers would port it all over to Linux within 6 months.
People buy Apple for the whole experience. If you take most of that experience, and port it over to x86, then you basically have people paying a premium for a fancy case. And guess what, there are knockoffs of those, too.
Here's a mirror of the video demonstration of the laser:
http://www.mothership.ws/stuff/BurningCup.mpg
But they only choose not to do it by taking it away from everyone. If the choice is there, then they'll do it, too.
How many rich environmentalists drive SUV's? Even their presidential candidate drove one!
It's also like the "paying higher taxes" debate... liberals are free to give more money to the government, but do they? Of course not! They'll only feel good about giving if they force you to empty YOUR wallet first!
Now I guess I'll have to wait for a couple of years for Halo 2 to make it to Mac OSX.
AFAIK, Halo 2 has not even been announced for the PC yet, much less the Mac. It's possible that Bungie could skip Halo 2 for the PC and Mac, so you may have to invest in that XBox if you want to play it.
Except that in Doom, you could only look left-right, not up-down. That also meant the shooting was always straight ahead in Doom, so no shooting at flying robots swooping down on you like in Marathon. And no jumping in Doom, IIRC, rocket or otherwise.
Marathon players INVENTED the grenade-hop that was popular for so long, and some advanced players still use.
Doom was strictly run-and-gun, no storyline. The Marathon world was immersive, with a great sci-fi storyline that was constantly unfolding. I also believe that Marathon was also the first FPS to have NPC's that fought beside you. Nothing like finding yourself surrounded by a small army of the toughest aliens the game has to throw at you, and then suddenly a platoon teleports in to save yer ass. All of this five years before Half-Life.
Even today, id is still cranking out whack-a-mole FPS games, while other companies like Bungie and Valve take the genre and make it immersive.
Sorry, kids, but NORAD will not be tracking Santa this year. A suit filed in federal court on Tuesday by the ACLU and the People for the American Way alleges that any use of government computers to aid the fat man this year constitutes a clear violation of the separation of church and state.
In a related filing, the ACLU and PFTAW are bringing a class-action lawsuit against Santa, citing numerous cases of unlawful entry, breaking and entering, trespassing, as well as a civil complaint alleging illegal operation of a flying craft without proper inspections, piloting without a license, and flying through restricted airspace without proper security clearance and prior authorization.
Sorry, kids, Christmas is cancelled this year, and for the forseeable future. It looks like Santa will be spending the rest of his life in the pen, making big rocks into little rocks.
I knew Slashdot catered to a younger audience, but this is ridiculous...
Squeezing wholesale prices is done at the corporate level. Hiring store clerks is done at the local level. The two have nothing to do with each other.
Besides, if there was some room left to squeeze wholesale prices, don't you think Wal-Mart would have already done it?