Comment Re:Isn't it time to drop the bill gates borg icon? (Score 1) 423
I agree. At small sizes, the motion blur just looks, well, blurry, so I think movement lines would be better.
Comment Re:It's all about the names (Score 1) 685
It wouldn't surprise me if a substantial number of those saying they have an "HD DVD player" actually own Blu-Ray devices.
Yes, I was thinking that too. Especially as (if the order in the results table is the same as the order in the questionnaire) the question for HD-DVD is a couple of questions before the one for Blu-Ray, so some of the respondents might not immediately realize the distinction.
Comment Re:I always maintained blue ray was moot (Score 4, Insightful) 685
If you look at the chart, they've separated out the PS3 owners from the Blu-Ray player owners. Combine the 7% Blu-Ray owners with the 9% PS3 owners, and that's 16%. I'm sure that most PS3 owners didn't feel the need to buy a separate Blu-Ray player.
On the other hand, some of the people who owned a PS3 and no other separate BD player, might have ticked Yes to both questions. In other words, you can't necessarily add together the numbers for BD players and PS3s together, as you may be counting some devices twice.
Comment Re:There will always be something! (Score 1) 339
If you are a cat-lover, I recommend not even reading the first link in TFS. It doesn't contain the video but it does graphically describe what was in it, which has left me quite shaken.
Why Our "Amazing" Science Fiction Future Fizzled 499
An anonymous reader sends in a story at CNN about how our predictions for the future tend to be somewhat accurate (whether or not we can do a thing) yet often too optimistic (whether or not it's practical). Obvious example: jetpacks. Quoting:
"Joseph Corn, co-author of 'Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future,' found an inflated optimism about technology's impact on the future as far back as the 19th century, when writers like Jules Verne were creating wondrous versions of the future. Even then, people had a misplaced faith in the power of inventions to make life easier, Corn says. For example, the typical 19th-century American city was crowded and smelly. The problem was horses. They created traffic jams, filled the streets with their droppings and, when they died, their carcasses. But around the turn of the 20th century, Americans were predicting that another miraculous invention would deliver them from the burden of the horse and hurried urban life — the automobile, Corn says. 'There were a lot of predictions associated with early automobiles,' Corn says. 'They would help eliminate congestion in the city and the messy, unsanitary streets of the city.' Corn says Americans' faith in the power of technology to reshape the future is due in part to their history. Americans have never accepted a radical political transformation that would change their future. They prefer technology, not radical politics, to propel social change."
Comment Re:Oh man, I worked in a company that did this... (Score 1) 197
Well go on then, what was the name of the company? You're posting anonymously, and it doesn't sound like you still work there.
Comment Off by default (in Ubuntu at least) (Score 2, Interesting) 501
> Possibly, too, those who participate in the Popularity Contests are not typical users of either Ubuntu or Debian.
I don't know about Debian, but the Popularity Contest (listed in the Software Sources window as 'Submit statistical information') is turned off by default in Ubuntu, and I don't expect many people turn it on given people's wish for privacy. So indeed, I don't think the results will be from typical users.
Comment Re:My bigest boneheaded move (Score 1) 259
I was going to say that naming a program after your initials wasn't a great idea, except that someone told me that the real 'df' command was written by David Ford. (Sorry, no reference, but David currently works in Oxford University if you want to track him down and ask him).
Submission + - PAL PS3 back compatability list goes live
Sockatume writes: "The backwards compatability list for the new, software-emulatin' PAL PS3 has gone live a little early. Roll up for a look at what late-adopting NTSC gamers can (probably) expect in the near future. As well as advising players to avoid 60Hz (NTSC) mode and network play, it suggests skipping cut-scenes to "have the best experience". Titles are listed with a rating for the quality of the emulation. Interesting omissions on the PS2 side include all versions of Metal Gear Solid 2, the entire Ratchet and Clank franchise, and Gran Turismo 4. More surprisingly, many PSone games are missing or suffering from errors: Final Fantasies 7 and 8 (unless you've got the Spanish version) are AWOL, as are Gran Turismo, the first disk of Gran Turismo 2, and second and third Resident Evil titles. Find your favourites!"
