I doubt the space used is the issue, since CDs are so cheap. It's the issue of having to make sure the game works properly on all of the desired platforms that costs money, and which is why so many companies ignore Linux (and Mac). The vast majority of gamers are running Windows, and a lot of Linux/Mac users have another Windows box just for games. It's just not worth the time/money when the game market is so competitive already.
I must say, some parts with the robots looked a tad too unrealistic. It just looked to fake.
What looked fake about it? I saw a "Making Of" T3 and they created all real robots to film for the scenes... as far as I know it was no CG on the robots or it was very limited.
What stops anybody of scanning a book in plain, good ol' ascii text and releasing it on the internet (else that this is illegal, of course)?
Gee I don't know....
- Having to separately scan (pages/2) times and keep all of those images in order (assuming the book is a small paperback, for a large format book you'd have to scan (pages) times with a normal size scanner) - Run an OCR app on these pages (if you want to distribute in ASCII text) - Proofread the OCR results to make sure they aren't all messed up (I guess this is not a necessary step) - Cut/paste all of the results into one ASCII file in order - Also distribute any images/diagrams/whatever separately, and put links to them in the ASCII text, probably best in HTML format or something, which would mean you would have to go through and put all of the necessary HTML tags in everywhere, or at least the image or link tags in at the appropriate spots
As opposed to (with an eBook, in some uncopyprotected format, which is what I assume you are referring to):
- Put it in your KaZaA shared directory
So yeah, I can see their paranoia personally. And to answer your question, time and effort is what stops them. Don't get me wrong though, I'd rather have the dead tree version myself, and I think the whole eBook thing was a bad idea...
That is a ridiculous scheme, doomed to failiure. I quake thinking some might want to do as "unsucessful" as Commander Keen!
I agree, those games were very successful and furthermore, successfully marketed through shareware. But those games were so well done, they could have gone through any distribution route with success (IMO). How many people actually pay for WinZip? Nero? Trillian? Or the bevy of shareware apps available from places like download.com?
I think shareware is a good way for under-funded and small developers to get their work out there, but the parent is right, I also think their work is only purchased by a very small percentage of those that use it, and a cracked copy is used by everyone that can get their hands on it.
Moe: Oh, boy! The deep fryer's here. Heh heh, I got it used from the navy. You can flash-fry a buffalo in forty seconds. Homer: Forty seconds? But I want it now!
The rule of thumb is: the computer environment should be at least 1/4th of the price of the hardware that sits on top and beneath it.
Why would you say that? You are probably going to purchase a new computer every 2-3 years, give or take... how often should you need to buy a new desk? I say spend some cash on a nice desk, that is the one thing you should be able to keep for a very long time. I bought a nice oak corner desk for about a grand, about 6 years ago, it's still in great shape, and I'm not looking to replace it anytime soon...
No doubt. I saw Episode I the day it came out. My expectations were low, and it was OK to watch but I wouldn't want to see it again. I didn't even bother seeing Episode II (still haven't seen it, probably won't even watch it when it comes out on TV), and I could care less about III.
Has nothing to do with MPAA or whatever other crap, the movies just suck, period.
That works fine for a few applications. Linux has thousands of applications, and people tend to install hundreds of them (they are free, after all, so why not). Do you want to go through hundreds of GUI installers, and then hundreds of GUI updaters? I don't.
Do you have to run an installer for Solitaire or Minesweeper when installing Windows? How about Internet Explorer? WordPad? And so on...
The parent is right, in my humble opinion, about the need of an all-inclusive setup package system for Linux. That is, if you want mainstream users to use it on the desktop. There will have to be a "basic" install setup from Red Hat or whoever, and additional applications will have to be all inclusive, one-click and step through the install type of installation. Users don't want to compile anything, download extra stuff (why didn't it come with it in the first place?). They just want to click and run an application.
Even if it means the size of the original download is way bigger because it includes files that the user might not need, I'm sure most Windows users that would consider Linux would prefer that to the current mess.
The package system you get with Debian (or RedHat, for that matter) is already so much better than anything you get for Windows that it isn't funny.
Why is that? If you can't just click and install an application, I'm sure there are plenty of Windows users that would disagree with you here.
If Linux developers adopted the equivalent of setup.exe more widely, that be a real blow to Linux.
The only thing it would be a blow to is the egos of Linux elitists who really don't want anyone using "their" OS.
I think this is a great idea. Early access would be great especially for graphic/video intensive sites that sometimes come up. As other posters have pointed out, it would also be cool to see some well thought-out early posts which would happen if the subscribers have the ability to read a story before it goes live.
For everyone bitching, seriously give it a rest. The banners are not even bad at all, and I know if I subscribed, I wouldn't care if they still showed up 100% of the time. Early access to stories is a valid new feature that adds some serious value to the subscription which is cheap anyway.
I'm not subscribing but damn, I'm not going to complain about it! It's not like they are raising the rates either. If you don't subscribe, fine! But quit bitching about the subscription features, especially when they are adding siginificant value to them!
Mark
ps As many posters have pointed you, you may want to rethink the red-green story headers, for colorblindness reasons...
I have stopped buying shitty music!:) Thanks KaZaA!
But isn't that what this whole thread is about?
If you want me to stop listening to shitty music... well... that takes a much bigger commitment, trying to find good bands, etc, that myself and probably a lot of people don't care enough to invest.
Man, everyone is ripping on this guy, I have to come to his defense...
Everyones analogies to other real-world products are cute, but they don't apply. One guy said, (paraphrasing) "you can live off grass and rainwater, but you dont, do you?" No... but if there was a totally free, in-home chef that would make me food exactly like I'd pay for at a restaurant, but it takes him a little longer or I can't get exactly what I want off the menu at any given time, I'd probably choose that alternative a lot of the time.
People post, "Kazaa is annoying", "slow downloads", etc. For movies, maybe. For most songs (I realize a lot of smaller artists are not represented as well), downloads are plentiful and fast, and for a 5 MB file it's QUICK.
Others post, "You have to supply the bandwidth, CD, no liner notes, etc". This is true. But a LOT of people don't want a CD, don't care about liner notes. If you like the band enough to want all 12-15 songs, I totally agree, buy the CD. But for most people, this is more of what they want. And obviously the people that would use KaZaA or this service already have cable modem or DSL (or dialup and don't care about speed).
I think $.99 is a good deal for a track, a GREAT deal. But when it comes down to logging on to some secure server, giving a credit card # up, etc, it's just going to be quicker to hit KaZaA or whatever P2P alternative there is and download.
I agree with the parent, I don't think anything like this, however good the service, will take off as long as a free alternative exists that is anywhere near as user friendly as the for-pay service.
It is like asking Microsoft to ship X-Boxes with a modchip mounted on it already.
Please...
So you are saying that you could set up an XBox to run Linux, and Wine or VMWare on top of that, and an XBox emulator on top of that? And this is something to be afraid of?
There is no way that would come close to working, with the overhead of Linux, VMWare, and then an XBox emulator. Games are written to take advantage of the specific hardware they are written for, and unless you have hardware that is much more powerful than what you are emulating, the games will run much slower, if at all.
I think another poster was correct when they said that this would give MS more ammunition vs modchip sellers. The legitimate uses of them would be much reduced with the release of something like this.
However I don't think this will get released anyway. Really the question is, why would they? What percent of their userbase would buy it? WAY less than 1 percent, for sure. It is more or less a waste of their time.
It's starting to look like the US recession will be one of the best things to happen to the Open-Source movement.
Uh, why would you say that? SimDesk is not open-source or free in any way. And as some people have pointed out, if this company (which I, and several posters here have never heard of) goes under or just has a crappy product, it will lead to running back to Microsoft after all, which will be a bad thing. As in, "We tried the alternative and lost bigtime, you should just stick with Microsoft to begin with!"
Slightly OT I know, but is there any good information online about creating your own robots? There is a ton of CHEAP old PC equipment on eBay you could use as the brain for a robot, but I would have no clue about interfacing PC hardware with motors and such. That would be an awesome project to work on, but where to start?
Any links would be appreciated... and I personally think that passing this information on to a fellow geek, and giving them some parts (motherboard/other PC hardware, motors, etc) to mess with would be such an awesome Christmas present.
And yes I know of Lego Mindstorms, but it seems like you could be even more creative if you had more control over every aspect of the robot you are building.
The drive can also play audio or MP3 CD's as well.
<OB/. troll>But can it play ogg??? Can it? Huh?</OB/. troll>
No, I don't care if it plays ogg. Why would they integrate MP3 playing ability into this CD player anyway? You have to have it hooked up to a computer to use it (I think) and there are tons of free players to use. Oh well, I don't care.:)
I hate shit like: "...equal to 87,000 paperback books."
I agree. I don't know why manufacturers don't stick to the standard unit of measure for high density media, Libraries of Congress. That's something we can all understand!
The story is about a guy who basically has a bunch of tools attached to him, who calls himself "Crazy Eric" (go figure). The whole story is just about how crazy this guy looks, and there is NO PICTURE! What's up with that?
Mark
Computer voting system in Colorado
on
Indecision 2002
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I voted earlier this afternoon in Colorado (city of Lakewood). The system was very easy to understand, much as you alluded to.
There was no internet/network connection to each voting booth box. The people running the voting would take a hardware cartridge (like a Nintendo cartrigde of old) and plug in into the voting booth tablet to activate it, and then they remove it. Apparently they first "activated" it in some main computer. It was a touch-screen tablet PC with a straightforward interface... click the candidate you want with your finger. It then showed a big X next to who you voted for. If you wanted to change it, you could click a different candidate, and the X would move to their name.
Several pages of votes later, you get to review a list of all of your votes. If they look satisfactory, you push a "VOTE" button at the top of the tablet, which flashes red when you are ready to finish voting. Press it and you are done. I didn't see what happens after that. I imagine the computers keep a tally of votes on each, and they are plugged into the main server at some point, or the "cartridges" can be used to download the vote data and they plug into the main server.
But the main point is, there was no internet connection, no keyboard, a proprietary "cartridge" system for passing some kind of voter data or to activate the terminal for voting. Obviously I don't know the OS it was running, but it did seem fairly straightforward with no obvious ways to mess with it. Not to mention that there were 4 election representatives there overseeing everything and it would be way obvious if anyone tried to mess with the machines in any way.
I don't know if they had any kind of built in UPS, because someone could pull the plug out of the wall easily... but overall they looked like good voting machines with proprietary hardware, which is a good thing IMO...
Slashdot Mirror
I doubt the space used is the issue, since CDs are so cheap. It's the issue of having to make sure the game works properly on all of the desired platforms that costs money, and which is why so many companies ignore Linux (and Mac). The vast majority of gamers are running Windows, and a lot of Linux/Mac users have another Windows box just for games. It's just not worth the time/money when the game market is so competitive already.
Mark
I must say, some parts with the robots looked a tad too unrealistic. It just looked to fake.
What looked fake about it? I saw a "Making Of" T3 and they created all real robots to film for the scenes... as far as I know it was no CG on the robots or it was very limited.
Mark
What stops anybody of scanning a book in plain, good ol' ascii text and releasing it on the internet (else that this is illegal, of course)?
Gee I don't know....
- Having to separately scan (pages/2) times and keep all of those images in order (assuming the book is a small paperback, for a large format book you'd have to scan (pages) times with a normal size scanner)
- Run an OCR app on these pages (if you want to distribute in ASCII text)
- Proofread the OCR results to make sure they aren't all messed up (I guess this is not a necessary step)
- Cut/paste all of the results into one ASCII file in order
- Also distribute any images/diagrams/whatever separately, and put links to them in the ASCII text, probably best in HTML format or something, which would mean you would have to go through and put all of the necessary HTML tags in everywhere, or at least the image or link tags in at the appropriate spots
As opposed to (with an eBook, in some uncopyprotected format, which is what I assume you are referring to):
- Put it in your KaZaA shared directory
So yeah, I can see their paranoia personally. And to answer your question, time and effort is what stops them. Don't get me wrong though, I'd rather have the dead tree version myself, and I think the whole eBook thing was a bad idea...
Mark
That is a ridiculous scheme, doomed to failiure. I quake thinking some might want to do as "unsucessful" as Commander Keen!
I agree, those games were very successful and furthermore, successfully marketed through shareware. But those games were so well done, they could have gone through any distribution route with success (IMO). How many people actually pay for WinZip? Nero? Trillian? Or the bevy of shareware apps available from places like download.com?
I think shareware is a good way for under-funded and small developers to get their work out there, but the parent is right, I also think their work is only purchased by a very small percentage of those that use it, and a cracked copy is used by everyone that can get their hands on it.
Mark
That technology simply does not exist. That guy is a moron. Well, back to KaZaA to continue downloading the latest Britney SpeNO CARRIER
Homer: 30 Seconds? But I want it now!
Actually, it's 40 seconds... from SNPP.com:
Moe: Oh, boy! The deep fryer's here. Heh heh, I got it used from the navy. You can flash-fry a buffalo in forty seconds.
Homer: Forty seconds? But I want it now!
Mark
Oohh, I've wasted my life...
Seeing the enlargement ads, children could well get the idea that they need to have 44DD breasts or 14" penises (penii?) in order to 'fit in.'
I agree. Thank god there isn't any other way of these terrible messages being beamed into childrens' homes every day already!
Mark
The rule of thumb is: the computer environment should be at least 1/4th of the price of the hardware that sits on top and beneath it.
Why would you say that? You are probably going to purchase a new computer every 2-3 years, give or take... how often should you need to buy a new desk? I say spend some cash on a nice desk, that is the one thing you should be able to keep for a very long time. I bought a nice oak corner desk for about a grand, about 6 years ago, it's still in great shape, and I'm not looking to replace it anytime soon...
Mark
No doubt. I saw Episode I the day it came out. My expectations were low, and it was OK to watch but I wouldn't want to see it again. I didn't even bother seeing Episode II (still haven't seen it, probably won't even watch it when it comes out on TV), and I could care less about III.
Has nothing to do with MPAA or whatever other crap, the movies just suck, period.
Mark
Where do you want to go eventually?
That works fine for a few applications. Linux has thousands of applications, and people tend to install hundreds of them (they are free, after all, so why not). Do you want to go through hundreds of GUI installers, and then hundreds of GUI updaters? I don't.
Do you have to run an installer for Solitaire or Minesweeper when installing Windows? How about Internet Explorer? WordPad? And so on...
The parent is right, in my humble opinion, about the need of an all-inclusive setup package system for Linux. That is, if you want mainstream users to use it on the desktop. There will have to be a "basic" install setup from Red Hat or whoever, and additional applications will have to be all inclusive, one-click and step through the install type of installation. Users don't want to compile anything, download extra stuff (why didn't it come with it in the first place?). They just want to click and run an application.
Even if it means the size of the original download is way bigger because it includes files that the user might not need, I'm sure most Windows users that would consider Linux would prefer that to the current mess.
The package system you get with Debian (or RedHat, for that matter) is already so much better than anything you get for Windows that it isn't funny.
Why is that? If you can't just click and install an application, I'm sure there are plenty of Windows users that would disagree with you here.
If Linux developers adopted the equivalent of setup.exe more widely, that be a real blow to Linux.
The only thing it would be a blow to is the egos of Linux elitists who really don't want anyone using "their" OS.
Mark
Mind you, I'm not a subscriber, but...
I think this is a great idea. Early access would be great especially for graphic/video intensive sites that sometimes come up. As other posters have pointed out, it would also be cool to see some well thought-out early posts which would happen if the subscribers have the ability to read a story before it goes live.
For everyone bitching, seriously give it a rest. The banners are not even bad at all, and I know if I subscribed, I wouldn't care if they still showed up 100% of the time. Early access to stories is a valid new feature that adds some serious value to the subscription which is cheap anyway.
I'm not subscribing but damn, I'm not going to complain about it! It's not like they are raising the rates either. If you don't subscribe, fine! But quit bitching about the subscription features, especially when they are adding siginificant value to them!
Mark
ps As many posters have pointed you, you may want to rethink the red-green story headers, for colorblindness reasons...
Maybe you should stop buying shitty music.
:) Thanks KaZaA!
I have stopped buying shitty music!
But isn't that what this whole thread is about?
If you want me to stop listening to shitty music... well... that takes a much bigger commitment, trying to find good bands, etc, that myself and probably a lot of people don't care enough to invest.
Mark
Man, everyone is ripping on this guy, I have to come to his defense...
Everyones analogies to other real-world products are cute, but they don't apply. One guy said, (paraphrasing) "you can live off grass and rainwater, but you dont, do you?" No... but if there was a totally free, in-home chef that would make me food exactly like I'd pay for at a restaurant, but it takes him a little longer or I can't get exactly what I want off the menu at any given time, I'd probably choose that alternative a lot of the time.
People post, "Kazaa is annoying", "slow downloads", etc. For movies, maybe. For most songs (I realize a lot of smaller artists are not represented as well), downloads are plentiful and fast, and for a 5 MB file it's QUICK.
Others post, "You have to supply the bandwidth, CD, no liner notes, etc". This is true. But a LOT of people don't want a CD, don't care about liner notes. If you like the band enough to want all 12-15 songs, I totally agree, buy the CD. But for most people, this is more of what they want. And obviously the people that would use KaZaA or this service already have cable modem or DSL (or dialup and don't care about speed).
I think $.99 is a good deal for a track, a GREAT deal. But when it comes down to logging on to some secure server, giving a credit card # up, etc, it's just going to be quicker to hit KaZaA or whatever P2P alternative there is and download.
I agree with the parent, I don't think anything like this, however good the service, will take off as long as a free alternative exists that is anywhere near as user friendly as the for-pay service.
Mark
It is like asking Microsoft to ship X-Boxes with a modchip mounted on it already.
Please...
So you are saying that you could set up an XBox to run Linux, and Wine or VMWare on top of that, and an XBox emulator on top of that? And this is something to be afraid of?
There is no way that would come close to working, with the overhead of Linux, VMWare, and then an XBox emulator. Games are written to take advantage of the specific hardware they are written for, and unless you have hardware that is much more powerful than what you are emulating, the games will run much slower, if at all.
I think another poster was correct when they said that this would give MS more ammunition vs modchip sellers. The legitimate uses of them would be much reduced with the release of something like this.
However I don't think this will get released anyway. Really the question is, why would they? What percent of their userbase would buy it? WAY less than 1 percent, for sure. It is more or less a waste of their time.
Mark
What do ya know? Cheaper than the Streamium, yet I can play movies too.
You can play movies without a monitor?
Well, I suppose you can play them, just you won't be able to actually see them.
Mark
It's starting to look like the US recession will be one of the best things to happen to the Open-Source movement.
Uh, why would you say that? SimDesk is not open-source or free in any way. And as some people have pointed out, if this company (which I, and several posters here have never heard of) goes under or just has a crappy product, it will lead to running back to Microsoft after all, which will be a bad thing. As in, "We tried the alternative and lost bigtime, you should just stick with Microsoft to begin with!"
Mark
Nobody suspects the butterfly!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA
Slightly OT I know, but is there any good information online about creating your own robots? There is a ton of CHEAP old PC equipment on eBay you could use as the brain for a robot, but I would have no clue about interfacing PC hardware with motors and such. That would be an awesome project to work on, but where to start?
Any links would be appreciated... and I personally think that passing this information on to a fellow geek, and giving them some parts (motherboard/other PC hardware, motors, etc) to mess with would be such an awesome Christmas present.
And yes I know of Lego Mindstorms, but it seems like you could be even more creative if you had more control over every aspect of the robot you are building.
Mark
The drive can also play audio or MP3 CD's as well.
/. troll>But can it play ogg??? Can it? Huh?</OB /. troll>
:)
<OB
No, I don't care if it plays ogg. Why would they integrate MP3 playing ability into this CD player anyway? You have to have it hooked up to a computer to use it (I think) and there are tons of free players to use. Oh well, I don't care.
Mark
I think their server needs a lifeboat... 29 comments in and it's slashdotted. :)
Mark
Where is "Star Wars Galaxies: Hot Date"?
/. crowd and come out with Star Wars Natalies: Hot Grits!
Maybe they will appeal to the
Mark
I hate shit like:
"...equal to 87,000 paperback books."
I agree. I don't know why manufacturers don't stick to the standard unit of measure for high density media, Libraries of Congress. That's something we can all understand!
Mark
The story is about a guy who basically has a bunch of tools attached to him, who calls himself "Crazy Eric" (go figure). The whole story is just about how crazy this guy looks, and there is NO PICTURE! What's up with that?
Mark
I voted earlier this afternoon in Colorado (city of Lakewood). The system was very easy to understand, much as you alluded to.
There was no internet/network connection to each voting booth box. The people running the voting would take a hardware cartridge (like a Nintendo cartrigde of old) and plug in into the voting booth tablet to activate it, and then they remove it. Apparently they first "activated" it in some main computer. It was a touch-screen tablet PC with a straightforward interface... click the candidate you want with your finger. It then showed a big X next to who you voted for. If you wanted to change it, you could click a different candidate, and the X would move to their name.
Several pages of votes later, you get to review a list of all of your votes. If they look satisfactory, you push a "VOTE" button at the top of the tablet, which flashes red when you are ready to finish voting. Press it and you are done. I didn't see what happens after that. I imagine the computers keep a tally of votes on each, and they are plugged into the main server at some point, or the "cartridges" can be used to download the vote data and they plug into the main server.
But the main point is, there was no internet connection, no keyboard, a proprietary "cartridge" system for passing some kind of voter data or to activate the terminal for voting. Obviously I don't know the OS it was running, but it did seem fairly straightforward with no obvious ways to mess with it. Not to mention that there were 4 election representatives there overseeing everything and it would be way obvious if anyone tried to mess with the machines in any way.
I don't know if they had any kind of built in UPS, because someone could pull the plug out of the wall easily... but overall they looked like good voting machines with proprietary hardware, which is a good thing IMO...
Mark