Comment But AI will fix it (Score 3, Funny) 50
Seriously though, I swear Google's corporate ADHD is getting... Oh look here's some AI!
Comment Yea... Nah. (Score 1) 85
Google is just trying to sell picks and shovels to the miners. I think Corey Doctorow summed it up neatly this week. :
"while we're nowhere near a place where bots can steal your job, we're certainly at the point where your boss can be suckered into firing you and replacing you with a bot that fails at doing your job"
Comment Pitch by press release. (Score 1) 67
I'm a cynical old codger... I read this and thought here's a pitch to get more VC cash flowing in.
Comment Re:Well, isn't it obvious? (Score 1) 619
Get a Sansa E200 and stick Rockbox on it. You'll get Ogg Vorbis support and a whole lot more.
Lawsuits That Changed the Games Industry 54
Gamasutra has up a piece looking at litigation that changed the way the games industry works. Deep, interesting questions like "Is modding legal?", "Are games covered by the 1st amendment?", and "Are games protected by copyright laws?" have all been decided in legal cases within the last 20 years. The site explores these issues, and ponders issues that are likely to affect the business of the games hobby in the future. From the article: "A variety of laws have been put forth by state legislature to act toward censoring game content or controlling the sale of games. As a rule, be immediately suspicious of any legislation proposed in the name of 'security' or 'protecting our children.' The result is often a jumbo size bite taken out of artistic expression and individual liberty. To date, the ESA has fought and won nine out of nine cases on these issues, having the state laws declared unconstitutional. Furthermore, the ESA has sought and won more than $1.5 million dollars in attorneys fees."
Submission + - Two-headed reptile fossil found in China
[TheBORG] writes: A tiny skeleton from the Early Cretaceous shows an embryonic or newborn reptile with two heads and two necks, called axial bifurcation ('two-headedness') (a well-known developmental flaw among reptile species today such as turtles and snakes) was found in China by French and Chinese paleontologists recovered from the Yixian Formation, which is nearly 150 million years old.
Comment Re:Abandoned? (Score 1) 387
*spoiler warning for parent*
The thing that I liked most about the Silmarillion was that it gave such a depth to Lord of the Rings. Firsly, the tale weaves into the fabric that Elrond is actually the Great^1000 Uncle of Aragorn, and that his own family was also rocked by the whole Human/Elf tradgedy (His own father was human) and that while he chose the elven path, his brother Elross chose the human, becoming the first king of the Numenoreans.
Reading stuff like this really makes the tale so incredibly rich with the characters not disparate people but throughout the history of Middle-Earth, the charaters are rich, complex and intertwined through more than just events.
While I think Peter Jackson hinted at the Elrond/Aragorn connection through the way that Elrond tried to spare his daughter the pain of the Human/Elf tradgedy (whom he experienced personally). Though in the book, not much was made of this tradgedy (correct me if I am wrong) in the way that it was in the Silmarillion.
The silmarillion also paints the pictures of the Mia (angel-like creatures) and that Gandalf, Saruman, Sauron and even Blarogs are all forms of Mia. The book resonates with the choices of the characters. Even Balrogs (Morgoth's captains) have "good" equivalents that are beings of fire (I think in one passage one being volunteered to pull to sun and/or a star). The difference between the Balrog and this being of fire was essentially their choices.
Very cool stuff, very detailed story. And I expect that the Children of Hurin will only add to the tapestry of Middle Eath in subtle and wonderful ways bringing colour to areas we had not even considered before. I think also that the 30 years of "seasoning" that Christopher Tolkien has brought to the story will do justice to his Father's legacy.
-- Dan =)
The thing that I liked most about the Silmarillion was that it gave such a depth to Lord of the Rings. Firsly, the tale weaves into the fabric that Elrond is actually the Great^1000 Uncle of Aragorn, and that his own family was also rocked by the whole Human/Elf tradgedy (His own father was human) and that while he chose the elven path, his brother Elross chose the human, becoming the first king of the Numenoreans.
Reading stuff like this really makes the tale so incredibly rich with the characters not disparate people but throughout the history of Middle-Earth, the charaters are rich, complex and intertwined through more than just events.
While I think Peter Jackson hinted at the Elrond/Aragorn connection through the way that Elrond tried to spare his daughter the pain of the Human/Elf tradgedy (whom he experienced personally). Though in the book, not much was made of this tradgedy (correct me if I am wrong) in the way that it was in the Silmarillion.
The silmarillion also paints the pictures of the Mia (angel-like creatures) and that Gandalf, Saruman, Sauron and even Blarogs are all forms of Mia. The book resonates with the choices of the characters. Even Balrogs (Morgoth's captains) have "good" equivalents that are beings of fire (I think in one passage one being volunteered to pull to sun and/or a star). The difference between the Balrog and this being of fire was essentially their choices.
Very cool stuff, very detailed story. And I expect that the Children of Hurin will only add to the tapestry of Middle Eath in subtle and wonderful ways bringing colour to areas we had not even considered before. I think also that the 30 years of "seasoning" that Christopher Tolkien has brought to the story will do justice to his Father's legacy.
-- Dan =)
Comment Re:My view on DRM (Score 1) 370
No, you aren't permitted to copy your (copyrighted) book 50,000 times and sell it, nor can you distribute it all over the Internet. Neither are you permitted to do that with DVDs - that's not the really the point. If you buy a book, you can skip straight to page 30 and start reading there if you want. If it has promotions for other books at the back, you aren't forced to read those before you can start reading (or resuming) your book. So why should we have to put up with being forced to watch commercials before being allowed to access the actual content on DVDs?
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