For many here on/. you are going to need to back up and explain this "wife" you speak of. I searched all over the 'egg and cannot find one.
But seriously. My fiancee likes more empire builders (caesar, settlers, sim city). For two player cooperative games she seems to like Lego Star Wars. She has also spent time with the kids Wallace and Gromit games and the like.
Trivia games are fine, but why not just sit at the table and play a tabletop version. Same with dancing games. Get out somewhere with music you like and dance.
DISCLAIMER: I work on POS systems for a major retailer. Working on POS systems for a major retailer doesn't mean you have any experience with EFT. What processors do you integrate with? What level of card processing do you support? Your statement seems a little uninformed.
I do actual EFT development for a POS software company. We are deployed into thousands of stores in over 70 countries around the world.
The credit card companies know every item you buy. They have a complete transaction record along with descriptions. That is not true. Most authorization requests contain the card information, the amount of the purchase, but not the items. Some processors do require the ticket\invoice number but that is it in most cases.
That being said, there is little reason in the US to store the credit card information. Most of the processors will return you a transaction ID that you can use to reference the transaction for follow on things. (like a void)
Outside of the US where integrated EFT is not as common this is a non issue as the POS software does not often participate in the EFT process. It is often done with separate side-by-side EFT hardware and the only thing the POS software cares about is that you got an auth. number.
Frankly I am more concerned with the idea that the credit card companies would know what I buy than the merchant would know what card I use. I get 5 spam offers a day for more credit cards, but most of the merchants I buy from send me nothing.
OK There were so many things wrong with the first idea I couldn't get past it to the second.
First off, how many people (other than the hardcore gamers) have a graphics card that can push 12 displays? The article quotes 12 but the illustration shows 6, which I think is still well beyond the average users display capabilities. (Comment all you want about your card being able to push 6+ displays. I assume that most/. users are above average, although I am not so sure about you.)
Second they mention a 16x9 projection size with a resolution of 4,096-by-2,304. Well IMAX can be 8 stories tall or larger in the case of the half dome screens. Seems like they are a little short, besides what is the largest uncovered wall in most homes? 20 feet tall? Then you are not even getting close to what IMAX can show. Also if I have done my math correctly that means each pixel is around 1 mm is size. That seems a little large to me compared to the crisp edge that film will give you.
Lastly IMAX isn't just about the big picture, 44 speaker groups in 6 clusters with 12,000 watts of power would make the average surround sound system go and hide under the bed. IMAX is an experience. From the really comfortable chairs to the sacrificial cost of popcorn and tickets.
From the weak concepts here to the lack of understanding of what IMAX really is I can only surmise that the Nelson Chang and Niranjan Damera-Venkata should have spent more of the past few years not trying to be IMAX but actually going to IMAX.
EMI would sell music without DRM to compete with Apple (ITMS). Why would they do this? They have a workable deal with Apple, and if they believe the RIAA of which they are a member they need DRM to combat all of us fair use advocates (read dirty rotten pirates). Even if they did sell non DRM music. They would have to get others to do the same thing to really compete with the selection that ITMS has. And if they are not happy with the Apple deal that means they are planning on charging more for the music. Kow much more are you really planning on paying for non DRM music?
Also, didn't Apple (Steve Jobs) say last week that they would sell music without DRM if the record companies would let them. Don't get me wrong, it is NOT in Apple's best interest to sell non DRM music from ITMS so I think Jobs statement was more of an excuse. finger pointing if you will. "We would do what you guys want if they would let us" sort of thing.
This whole conversation sounds like a marketing spin version of she said, she said. "We both have the best interests of the consumer in mind..." As long as we control the market. And as long as we can squeeze every penny out of each and every consumer. Then..."we really are good people".
scientists have come up with a definitive test that could prove or disprove string theory. If the test could prove or disprove string theory then there is an equal chance that the test could prove (or disprove) nothing at all. So I would hardly call this definitive. Unless this is a new definition of definitive that I was previously unaware of.
At the time of the release it was not like there was much potential of a big revenue stream from the nix crowd to begin with. Who was the target audience? Lone developers that would have used it to build "free" apps. couldn't afford it, and corporate dev. shops that were using nix were only using it on the back end. So at best you are building middle tier or web services, both of which were already well supported by other languages/platforms for nix.
There were functional problems as well. Making Delphi/CBuilder developers not use the controls and code base for win32 but requiring the use of CLX and custom libs for Kylix portability. An unstable initial IDE release. To name a few. Developers that work in Delphi or CBuilder all the time think in those languages, and know all the details (hidden features/bugs) of the controls they use. The compiler/linker should have taken care of the different platforms. Like compiler options that determine if you are compiling against win32 or nix. Making the developers try and remember all the differences is the same as making them learn a new language. Thats just dumb, and if there is one thing developers tend not to be it's dumb.
Now if you come forward to today where Desktop nix is starting to make headway. What would be really interesting is if there were a stable version of Kylix that let you use your Delphi or CBuilder code, (not CLX and custom libraries for nix.) and the compiler/linker took care of the platform specifics. Price it around the same as the Turbos. You have a good viable product. ["Of course if wishes were horses we would all be eating steak"]
I don't think Borland/CodeGear has the courage to do this. Because while the website says "Where developers matter" what it really means is "Where developers pocketbooks matter". Just look at the sad state of the BDS products. Borland hopped on the.NET train because that was where the money "is/was" but now instead of innovating, they play catch up for the privilege of being dependent on someone else's technology.
I could rail all day on mistakes Borland made, but as they say hindsight is 20/20. Let's not focus on the past but look forward to the future and all the mistakes they have yet to make.
The article quoted is interesting but does not really show what the impact of piracy is related to the other loss factors that "The music, movie, and software cartels" have. Knowing that because movie piracy is number 16 world wide in illicit trade has no value as a statistic refuting the movie industry claims that it is the number one problem.
Piracy could and most likely is a huge factor in these industries. (No more so than casting Paris Hilton in movies or putting shows on TV like "Who wants to screw my sister?", wait was that the same show? I digress.) I do think that the entertainment industry has it wrong though. When they claim losses they base that on the number of bootleg copies of something they see, and I for one doubt that every copy of the movie "Battlefield Earth" bootlegged represents a lost sale.
Lost sales is mythological figure. There is no way to really tell what the loss is because there is no way to really tell who would have shelled out $9 (or $31 if you got the small popcorn and shot glass of soda) in the theaters. Or the $15 to $40 for the DVD.
-Michael
Isn't is time for the entertainment industry to get out of politics and the government to get out of the comedy business?
What I find interesting is that if you click the links for the items you get the CNET reviews for the same items. In several cases CNET gave an item a positive review only to include it on the list of "Worst Tech". Now I know they say there is no such thing as bad press but this seems like a case of social engineering on the part of CNET using/. to drive people to a questionable article. That being said I did go read the article and the linked reviews so I guess as sheeple I cant complain to much (doh!)
Slashdot Mirror
In Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross a group iron bombs a sun. Quite a cool concept ;)
The last image is just a production still. There are only 14 in the article.
I know we have more than made up for that here, but still it is pretty bad when a computing site can't count to 15.
For many here on /. you are going to need to back up and explain this "wife" you speak of. I searched all over the 'egg and cannot find one.
But seriously. My fiancee likes more empire builders (caesar, settlers, sim city). For two player cooperative games she seems to like Lego Star Wars. She has also spent time with the kids Wallace and Gromit games and the like.
Trivia games are fine, but why not just sit at the table and play a tabletop version. Same with dancing games. Get out somewhere with music you like and dance.
Just my thoughts.
OK There were so many things wrong with the first idea I couldn't get past it to the second.
/. users are above average, although I am not so sure about you.)
First off, how many people (other than the hardcore gamers) have a graphics card that can push 12 displays? The article quotes 12 but the illustration shows 6, which I think is still well beyond the average users display capabilities. (Comment all you want about your card being able to push 6+ displays. I assume that most
Second they mention a 16x9 projection size with a resolution of 4,096-by-2,304. Well IMAX can be 8 stories tall or larger in the case of the half dome screens. Seems like they are a little short, besides what is the largest uncovered wall in most homes? 20 feet tall? Then you are not even getting close to what IMAX can show. Also if I have done my math correctly that means each pixel is around 1 mm is size. That seems a little large to me compared to the crisp edge that film will give you.
Lastly IMAX isn't just about the big picture, 44 speaker groups in 6 clusters with 12,000 watts of power would make the average surround sound system go and hide under the bed. IMAX is an experience. From the really comfortable chairs to the sacrificial cost of popcorn and tickets.
From the weak concepts here to the lack of understanding of what IMAX really is I can only surmise that the Nelson Chang and Niranjan Damera-Venkata should have spent more of the past few years not trying to be IMAX but actually going to IMAX.
EMI would sell music without DRM to compete with Apple (ITMS). Why would they do this? They have a workable deal with Apple, and if they believe the RIAA of which they are a member they need DRM to combat all of us fair use advocates (read dirty rotten pirates). Even if they did sell non DRM music. They would have to get others to do the same thing to really compete with the selection that ITMS has. And if they are not happy with the Apple deal that means they are planning on charging more for the music. Kow much more are you really planning on paying for non DRM music?
..."we really are good people".
Also, didn't Apple (Steve Jobs) say last week that they would sell music without DRM if the record companies would let them. Don't get me wrong, it is NOT in Apple's best interest to sell non DRM music from ITMS so I think Jobs statement was more of an excuse. finger pointing if you will. "We would do what you guys want if they would let us" sort of thing.
This whole conversation sounds like a marketing spin version of she said, she said. "We both have the best interests of the consumer in mind..." As long as we control the market. And as long as we can squeeze every penny out of each and every consumer. Then
What a load of crap.
Any computer held together with Duct tape has got to be a success.
At the time of the release it was not like there was much potential of a big revenue stream from the nix crowd to begin with. Who was the target audience? Lone developers that would have used it to build "free" apps. couldn't afford it, and corporate dev. shops that were using nix were only using it on the back end. So at best you are building middle tier or web services, both of which were already well supported by other languages/platforms for nix.
.NET train because that was where the money "is/was" but now instead of innovating, they play catch up for the privilege of being dependent on someone else's technology.
There were functional problems as well. Making Delphi/CBuilder developers not use the controls and code base for win32 but requiring the use of CLX and custom libs for Kylix portability. An unstable initial IDE release. To name a few. Developers that work in Delphi or CBuilder all the time think in those languages, and know all the details (hidden features/bugs) of the controls they use. The compiler/linker should have taken care of the different platforms. Like compiler options that determine if you are compiling against win32 or nix. Making the developers try and remember all the differences is the same as making them learn a new language. Thats just dumb, and if there is one thing developers tend not to be it's dumb.
Now if you come forward to today where Desktop nix is starting to make headway. What would be really interesting is if there were a stable version of Kylix that let you use your Delphi or CBuilder code, (not CLX and custom libraries for nix.) and the compiler/linker took care of the platform specifics. Price it around the same as the Turbos. You have a good viable product. ["Of course if wishes were horses we would all be eating steak"]
I don't think Borland/CodeGear has the courage to do this. Because while the website says "Where developers matter" what it really means is "Where developers pocketbooks matter". Just look at the sad state of the BDS products. Borland hopped on the
I could rail all day on mistakes Borland made, but as they say hindsight is 20/20. Let's not focus on the past but look forward to the future and all the mistakes they have yet to make.
The article quoted is interesting but does not really show what the impact of piracy is related to the other loss factors that "The music, movie, and software cartels" have. Knowing that because movie piracy is number 16 world wide in illicit trade has no value as a statistic refuting the movie industry claims that it is the number one problem.
Piracy could and most likely is a huge factor in these industries. (No more so than casting Paris Hilton in movies or putting shows on TV like "Who wants to screw my sister?", wait was that the same show? I digress.) I do think that the entertainment industry has it wrong though. When they claim losses they base that on the number of bootleg copies of something they see, and I for one doubt that every copy of the movie "Battlefield Earth" bootlegged represents a lost sale.
Lost sales is mythological figure. There is no way to really tell what the loss is because there is no way to really tell who would have shelled out $9 (or $31 if you got the small popcorn and shot glass of soda) in the theaters. Or the $15 to $40 for the DVD.
-Michael
Isn't is time for the entertainment industry to get out of politics and the government to get out of the comedy business?
What I find interesting is that if you click the links for the items you get the CNET reviews for the same items. In several cases CNET gave an item a positive review only to include it on the list of "Worst Tech". Now I know they say there is no such thing as bad press but this seems like a case of social engineering on the part of CNET using /. to drive people to a questionable article. That being said I did go read the article and the linked reviews so I guess as sheeple I cant complain to much (doh!)