Comment Re:It's down to the cost of one disk? (Score 1) 551
Now you know why windows 7 is the fastest selling windows os ever ...
Comment Re:I don't get it. (Score 1) 764
So, Windows Phone 7 is an app that Microsoft has submitted for approval in the App Store? Will Apple somehow stop Windows Phone 7 from being sold? Huh?
Comment Re:I don't get it. (Score 1) 764
I don't think it's been proved they did have one. It may have been the typical play of "hey, look over here at (this video rendering of) what we have, ignore that iPad thing". When the iPad took off, they simply deleted the video files.
Comment Re:I don't get it. (Score 1) 764
That and they listened to Microsoft and spent all their energy targetting OS/2 ...
Comment Re:Predictions (Score 1) 764
- The product will be called "XPad", "ActivePad" or "ZURF".
Trademark those names and register the domains, quickly!
Comment Re:Getting nostalgic... (Score 1) 179
The Courier looked like a great device. Why was that ended?
It. Never. Existed.
Comment Re:ladies and gentlemen: (Score 1) 557
the AAC and H.264 codecs are openly documented well enough that there are open source implementations of both.
Submission + - Linux installfests maturing? (blogspot.com)
christian.einfeldt writes: "Linux installfests apparently are expanding from an emphasis on serving individual users to mass network installs serving non-profits and schools. In the past, installfests have often been held as part of Linux User Group meetings, and involved individual new computer users bringing their computers to a small meeting to have Linux installed on their machines. But now there is an apparent trend visible in Linux installfests toward mass network installs supported by greater corporate or municipal involvement in Linux installfests. In many cases, the newly-installed Linux computers are being given to end user institutions such as schools. For example, a recent installfest in Austin, Texas, was put on by two non-profits and was supported by the personal participation of upper management at AMD and nFusion. The majority of the eighty-three machines were PXE-booted and mass-installed at that event over an ad hoc network. Likewise, at last year's LinuxWorld expo in San Francisco, 350 Linux computers were mass-installed over a similar PXE network in a mass installfest put on in a partnership between the non-profit Alameda County Computer Resource Center and the for-profit Untangle and IDG firms. The machines were donated to San Francisco Bay Area schools. Similar installfests have been held in Chile and India, to name just a few."
Comment Re:In technology... (Score 1) 475
PowerPC was never intended to be faster than x86, it was intended to be comparable in performance at a much smaller die size and lower subsequent cost.
I think these days, it is called "Performance Per Watt".
1 button mice were always stupid.
I see you've never worked on a help-desk trying to talk a (l)user through a simple point-and-click operation.
help: click on the phone icon
user: i've got a menu, which one do i choose
help: noooo, click your left mouse button just once on the phone icon
user: do you want me to choose properties from this menu?
help:
Submission + - Unusual physics engine game ported to Linux (blogspot.com)
christian.einfeldt writes: "Halloween has come early for Linux-loving gamers in the form of the scary Penumbra game trilogy, which has just recently been ported natively to GNU-Linux by the manufacturer, Frictional Games. The Penumbra games, named Overture, Black Plague, and Requiem, respectively, are first person survival horror and physics puzzle games which challenge the player to survive in a mine in Greenland which has been taken over by a monstrous infection/demon/cthulhu-esque thing. The graphics, sounds, and plot are all admirable in a scary sort of way. The protagonist is an ordinary human with no particular powers at all, who fumbles around in the dark mine fighting zombified dogs or fleeing from infected humans. But the game is remarkable for its physics engine — rather than just bump and acquire, the player must use the mouse to physically turn knobs and open doors; and the player can grab and throw pretty much anything in the environment. The physics engine drives objects to fly and fall exactly as one would expect. The porting of a game with such a deft physics engine natively to Linux might be one of the most noteworthy events for GNU-Linux gamers since the 'World of Goo' Linux port."
Why TV Lost 576
theodp writes "Over the past 20 years, there's been much speculation about what the convergence of computers and TV would ultimately look like. Paul Graham says that we now know the answer: computers. 'Convergence' is turning out to essentially be 'replacement.' Why did TV lose? Graham identifies four forces: 1. The Internet's open platform fosters innovation at hacker speeds instead of big company speeds. 2. Moore's Law worked its magic on Internet bandwidth. 3. Piracy taught a new generation of users it's more convenient to watch shows on a computer screen. 4. Social applications made everybody from grandmas to 14-year-old girls want computers — in a three-word-nutshell, Facebook killed TV."
Submission + - ninemsn Music Store, closing on the 21 Jan 2008
ColonelBlinky writes: Below is a copy of an email that I, just like others, got today from ninemsn music. So what do I do now, do I make the switch to iTunes or go back to paying for CD's with extra tracks I won't ever listen too?
I am very aware of the controversy over DRM but I assume (unwisely now) that no matter where I got my DRM music from that if they went bust someone would buy them out and the licenses transer. In this case OD2 provide the back end service so I can't see why another OD2 distributor can't take over?
CB
Australia
ps. my 1st post on Slashdot, constructive feedback on my posting technique is welcome
=== copy email below ===
The ninemsn Music Store will be closing on the 21 January 2008 at 9pm EST.
If you still have credit left in this account, please use it by the 21 January 2008. Any pre-pay credit remaining after this date will expire and NOT be able to be redeemed. Subscriptions will automatically expire over the next month, and from today, no more subscription payments will be taken.
All tracks that you have downloaded through the ninemsn Music service can continue to be enjoyed after the service has closed, but we recommend that you burn them all to audio CD using Windows Media Player to avoid any loss of licenses. Please do this before the store closure on the 21 January 2008, in case you have any questions that need to be directed to our support team.
If you have any other queries regarding the closure of your account and this service, please contact our customer support team directly at 9msn.support@od2.com.
We thank you for your loyalty and support and will email you in the near future with some new and even more exciting music initiatives we have planned.
Kind Regards,
The ninemsn Music store team
I am very aware of the controversy over DRM but I assume (unwisely now) that no matter where I got my DRM music from that if they went bust someone would buy them out and the licenses transer. In this case OD2 provide the back end service so I can't see why another OD2 distributor can't take over?
CB
Australia
ps. my 1st post on Slashdot, constructive feedback on my posting technique is welcome
=== copy email below ===
The ninemsn Music Store will be closing on the 21 January 2008 at 9pm EST.
If you still have credit left in this account, please use it by the 21 January 2008. Any pre-pay credit remaining after this date will expire and NOT be able to be redeemed. Subscriptions will automatically expire over the next month, and from today, no more subscription payments will be taken.
All tracks that you have downloaded through the ninemsn Music service can continue to be enjoyed after the service has closed, but we recommend that you burn them all to audio CD using Windows Media Player to avoid any loss of licenses. Please do this before the store closure on the 21 January 2008, in case you have any questions that need to be directed to our support team.
If you have any other queries regarding the closure of your account and this service, please contact our customer support team directly at 9msn.support@od2.com.
We thank you for your loyalty and support and will email you in the near future with some new and even more exciting music initiatives we have planned.
Kind Regards,
The ninemsn Music store team
Submission + - UT3 on Linux or Mac Anyone?
Space-Nut writes: It is well known that the Unreal Tournament series have tried hard in the past to make their games available for Linux and Macs. With the upcoming Unreal Tournament 3 release sometime soon and a statement back in May from Mark Rein in thread about DX10"..All this means is that UT3 will support DX10 — it does NOT mean that DX10 is required! We expect the vast majority of our users will be Windows XP / DX9 users. We will also support Mac and Linux as per usual." Is anyone else really excited about UT3 and 2007 and will you support Epic in providing a Linux and Mac version by buying the game?
Submission + - Browser Market Share - why does it matter?
An anonymous reader writes: Why does market share for a web browser matter? My computer came with IE but I use FireFox for most browsing. Did Microsoft lose? If so, what did they lose? Why would a company that gives something away for free (Mozilla) care if they have 10% of the market share or 90%? I have my suspicions but thought the the slashdotters would be able to give some good information. If you were to put aside features and security (that is a lot to put aside), should I care who developed my browser?
Submission + - ISO document standard battle
Elektroschock writes: "Some activists believe that Microsoft ooxml should not become an ISO standard for technical reasons. But would you prefer a closed Microsoft Office Format that is not approved as a standard? Or will a single ISO 26300:2006 (ODF) standard encourage Microsoft to support it when DIS 26500 (MS-ooxml) gets rejected? What is your opinion on the controversial issue?"
