November 2004 Archives
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November 23, 2004
Lik Sang Reviews and Disassembles the Nintendo Gameboy DS
Nintendo DS is Here: Opened and Exposed Picture Gallery, Hands-On and Accessories Test Run
Sounds like a great system! They don't talk about the realities of the download play feature, though. It's interesting to see that you can actually have an Advance cart and a DS cart in at the same time. Very cool. The gameboy franchise lives on...
Sears/Kmart buys France
iowahawk: Sears/Kmart Acquires France
Gotta love the humor. ;)
Following this, Microsoft will have to buy Japan to as not to be left behind in the rush to buy countries.
November 22, 2004
Series 60 PC control software, and winamp control
ControlFreak - Overview - Ultimate PC remote control
This software package is great in that it allows VNC like control over a PC via bluetooth with your Series 60 device. Additionally, it also provides smart WinAmp control, which makes it a great media remote control that's not limited by line of sight.
One of these days I might get around to trying it... the tab has been open in Firefox for a couple of weeks now...
Xingtone: Getting Ringtones onto Verizon
This little application allows people to ringtones of their own creation onto their Verizon phones without paying for one of the many ringtone applications available for BREW.
It's even free for Verizon customers, although it appears that it limits you to some included songs. Although, after running it the Verizon version is a full version. I can pick any MP3 I want. I then choose the section of the MP3 I want. And then I can send it to the phone, which is delivered via MMS.
November 17, 2004
Cool Motorocycle Helmets -- Bluetooth Enabled!
Gizmodo : Wireless : Bluetooth Archives
The ability to both use the phone and possible to do short range communications using Bluetooth in these helmets is interesting and cool. Not that I have a motorcycle or anything...
November 16, 2004
A case to watch for long hour workers..
Employees readying class-action lawsuit against EA - PC News at GameSpot
This is a case to watch for anyone who has been forced to work excessive hours at their job, exempt or not. Although, it seems like the case is about whether or not the employees in question were actually exempt.
It's good to know that us exempt people can be forced to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week ... and not be able to do anything about it (short of quitting).
November 15, 2004
November 9, 2004
Wired on the Real da Vinci
Wired 12.11: The Real da Vinci Code
An article that got my interest but that I don't have time to read...
Lucasfilm's Habitat
Lucasfilm's Habitat was, apparently, one of the earliest attempts at a massively multiuser online environment in a commercial setting. It appears that it was done circa 1985-1986 and used Commodore 64s with 300 baud modems.
This article discusses the lessons they learned from the various issues they faced when creating this early version of Cyberspace. The article was written in 1990. It's an interesting read given what's happened with massive online communities in recent years. Consider that they talk about problems when they surpassed 50 people. Around then or not long later MUDs easily surpassed 50 people, going into the hundreds. Sure, they were text only but unlike one of the articles conclusions about people not want to use a text interface, even now text interfaces are still an option to consider for many games. Not long after that came EverQuest and then the rush of MMORPGs that support thousands of players.
Some of the things they mention, though, like using primatives with modifiers to reduce the amount of data sent are still in use today, too.
In all, it's a good read and some of it can even apply to every day software planning and design.
Comparing Microdrives to Flash Memory cards...
Which is better: Microdrive or flash memory?
The conclusion seems to be that if you want physically robust memory, use a flash memory card but if you want inexpensive memory in larger quantities and can protect it, use microdrives.
We've got both with our cameras (our is used loosely, of course). We've got a 4GB Hitachi microdrive and a 2.2 GB MicroStor drive. The 4GB works well in both the Canon Digital Rebel (aka 300D) and the Canon 20D. The 2.2GB works only in the 20D. And by works, I mean they both shoot until they decide they're done. On the 2.2GB, we rarely get over about 1.3GB before some error occurs. On the 4GB, it has sometimes gone beyond 2GB, but rarely. And this happens on both the 20D and the Digital Rebel.
For flash memory, we have a 1GB card and a couple of 256MB fast cards. They always work perfectly.
However, even with the microdrives getting less than 100% storage, they still get more storage than the flash cards -- and at a lower cost.
Hopefully the article is correct in that flash memory will be forced to get cheaper at a faster than anticipated rate.
November 1, 2004
Sushi is expensive when...
... it comes as an overpriced USB drive.
The Zaurus SL-C3000 is nice to see available. It's a whee bit expensive, although compared to their price on the SL-C860 adding 50 bucks for a 4GB microdrive isn't bad. They really should have doubled the RAM, though. They also need to get an 800x600 version out -- even PocketPCs are starting to come in VGA flavors.
