Recent Posts

9076

General Software Discussion / Re: weather.com

« Last post by wraith808 on July 16, 2010, 11:21 AM »

goingtorain.com

-is reading my pc's location, so there is no place to type my zip code. Should it be "USA only"?

this is what met me, before I could click or type anything:
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Curt (July 16, 2010, 09:30 AM)

Click to try another location at the bottom?

9077

Living Room / Re: Has anyone ever used their LCD television as their main monitor ?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 14, 2010, 03:19 PM »

I used to do it on my 46" DLP.  It wouldn't get 1900x1080, but 1280x1024 @ 46" is still pretty impressive.  It wasn't my main computer, but was in my living room, and I sat on the sofa about 3-4' away, using a logitech dinovo keyboard and a g7 wireless mouse.  And yes, I was playing WoW at the time... and guild wars, and Cit of Heroes... and many more.  It actually wasn't as immersive as my 24" on my desktop IMO... the distance killed it for me, and the fact that my coffee table was a lot lower than my desk.

9078

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by wraith808 on July 14, 2010, 03:14 PM »

^ Blow things up in creative ways in the name of 'Science'?

9079

Living Room / Re: Student suspended over suspected use of PHP

« Last post by wraith808 on July 14, 2010, 11:21 AM »

This is from 2006?

9080

Living Room / Re: boardgamegeek - all things boardgame site

« Last post by wraith808 on July 14, 2010, 09:59 AM »

But even with shipping you will not find better prices anywhere on the Internet!  

-parkint (July 14, 2010, 08:36 AM)

http://www.thoughthammer.com

They don't have a loyalty bonus or anything, but their prices are lower, and free shipping on purchases over $125.  Not lower *all* the time, but most of the time, IME.

Some distributors (FRED frex) will be more... I'm not sure how they do it.  But the regular distributors are usually less.

9081

General Software Discussion / Re: ALL cloud applications should offer downloadable installs.

« Last post by wraith808 on July 13, 2010, 10:05 PM »

A VPS is $20/mo or so minimum, and you'd need at least that amount of resources to run the more demanding apps well. More than that if you want a friendly control panel like CPanel.

-JavaJones (July 13, 2010, 03:53 PM)

It really depends on what you want.  If you want options, like fantastico gives you, then yeah.  The one I'm renting my server from has VPS options for $24.95/month- that's what I used before I went the full server route, and it was very nice.  If you don't mind shopping around for the right configuration - meaning that they have one option in each area, but they line up with yours, then you can get them for a lot less.

9082

General Software Discussion / Re: ALL cloud applications should offer downloadable installs.

« Last post by wraith808 on July 13, 2010, 03:46 PM »

Maybe check this thread?

https://www.donation...ic=23383.0;topicseen

That might be what you're looking for.

-wraith808 (July 13, 2010, 10:18 AM)

I looked into the platform, and it seems that they're doing exactly what you wanted... just wanted to post that again as I didn't see your response to it, so thought you might have missed it.  And it's free

If you need more than that, PM me.  I purchased a server for exactly this reason, and I'm parceling it out to help pay costs...

9083

General Software Discussion / Re: ALL cloud applications should offer downloadable installs.

« Last post by wraith808 on July 13, 2010, 10:18 AM »

Maybe check this thread?

https://www.donation...ic=23383.0;topicseen

That might be what you're looking for.

9084

Living Room / Re: Why does digital media cost so much?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 11, 2010, 10:39 PM »

I think that might have been in response to the nook.  Barnes and Noble started a program for self-publishing a while ago.  I don't know the specifics however.  Apple also has a program for self-publishing.

http://www.barnesand....com/pubit/index.asp

After looking into it, it appears that Amazon was first, and B&N is the one playing catch up.

9085

Living Room / Re: More ammunition why patents are EVIL

« Last post by wraith808 on July 10, 2010, 06:19 PM »

http://gigaom.com/20...patent-infringement/

Patenting an idea basically.  How idiotic is this. 

9086

Living Room / Re: App Culture vs. Free Culture

« Last post by wraith808 on July 09, 2010, 02:34 PM »

Don't forget that despite not coding one line in your app, Apple willingly takes 30% of your profit off the top. That's effing greedy, folks!

-zridling (July 06, 2010, 04:59 PM)

As does Google if you sale in their market, and I believe Microsoft said their mobile store would be the same or similar.  Is 30% that bad when you consider it means you don't have to set up a store, actually handle credit card fees, or pay for the bandwidth? I'm seriously asking as it doesn't seem that bad to me.

I dislike Apple's policies and the corporate attitude they project, but I'm not sure I see this 70-30 split being so outrageous.


Now the fact that a developer interested in selling an iOS app to non-jailbreaking users has no other choice but to accept Apple's 70-30 deal is absolutely maddening.

-TheQwerty (July 07, 2010, 06:13 AM)

Don't forget there are 2 other issues involved:

1. You can't try before you buy, so there is a risk involved with buying crap and not being able to get your money back.

-app103 (July 09, 2010, 11:04 AM)

The best companies provide a free 'trial' version or one supported by apps, and a paid version that either gives more features or removes the ads, so there is some leeway here, even if it's just the developers getting around the problem.

9087

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 08, 2010, 11:06 PM »

That is my point.  It is becoming mainstream as mainstream retailers get into the game.  The numbers were too big for them to ignore.  Or did you mean something by stating who the mainstream retailers are?  e-books have been around for a loooong time without them as players.  Amazon decided to get into it with the Kindle.  B&N bought Fictionwise/eReader and leveraged them with the nook.  Borders is coming along late to the game, and it still has yet to be seen what their presence will do to the balance.  They weren't the leaders, they just elbowed their way into the game when they saw that the market was ripe for their picking.

9088

Living Room / Re: App Culture vs. Free Culture

« Last post by wraith808 on July 08, 2010, 03:06 PM »

btw for the record i think that 30% is way way too high, and is the kind of mark up that you could only get away with by having a near-monopoly control over access by consumers.

-mouser (July 08, 2010, 02:49 PM)

Isn't that the usual retail model though?  I worked in retail during my college years, and got to know way more than I ever wanted to know about the channel, and tomos hit it close to the mark... the retail markup I've always seen is between 35% and 45% in general.  We're looking at it as if internet sales and marketing is a special case, but really, when you look at it, it isn't.  We pay the same markup for Windows, Office, and all the other software.  It's just that we don't know the details of those deals as well as the details of the App store because those contracts are pretty sacrosanct.

9089

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 08, 2010, 12:17 PM »

I think those numbers, combined with the trends show exactly what I was referring to.  The eBook market has crested 100 million, and is the fastest growing sector of book distribution.  At this point, they are becoming mainstream, and the mainstream retailers can't ignore them anymore.

9090

Living Room / Re: App Culture vs. Free Culture

« Last post by wraith808 on July 08, 2010, 11:07 AM »

Is 30% that bad when you consider it means you don't have to set up a store, actually handle credit card fees, or pay for the bandwidth? I'm seriously asking as it doesn't seem that bad to me. I dislike Apple's policies and the corporate attitude they project, but I'm not sure I see this 70-30 split being so outrageous.

-TheQwerty (July 07, 2010, 06:13 AM)

It's outrageously high, I think. You do 100% of the work and they take 30%! Why not 5%?

-zridling (July 07, 2010, 05:45 PM)

Isn't this where I supply the same argument that was raised in the Kindle vs Nook pricing thread? 

The basic 'rule' of optimal pricing (in a free market) is to "charge what the market will bear."

-40hz (July 07, 2010, 09:28 AM)

9091

Living Room / Re: More ammunition why patents are EVIL

« Last post by wraith808 on July 08, 2010, 11:02 AM »

+1.  I really like your description

9092

Living Room / Re: How Steam turned a pirate into a paying customer

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 10:19 PM »

No, it's not necessarily cheaper- but it is more convenient.  I've re-purchased games that I still have on DVD because of that reason.  In fact, it seems that the price is not the leading motivator from what he was saying, but just one of many.  Also, if you look for sales, there's no reason to pay that price.  When I purchased Fallout 3 game of the year edition, I got it for $25.  And as for Oblivion, I purchased the past two elder scrolls games plus the DLC for $19.95.  Steam will always have the advantage on agility in pricing, because they can more easily mark things down for a day or two than the retail channel.

9093

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 03:57 PM »

And if not semi-open, then able to use open standards.

I agree that there will have to be one standard for all readers (  See Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD ) before e-books become really mainstream.  Also, at present you are really just " renting " the book.  You can't loan it, sell it or donate it. That will need to be addressed also.

-ljbirns (July 07, 2010, 03:41 PM)

I wouldn't go that far.  It would be *nice* but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't take off without it.  Again, look at music.  It took a *long* time for DRM free music to become a major sight in the industry, but digital music was mainstream long before that.  I would arguably say that electronic books are already mainstream, and the money involved backs that up.  In many ways, like so many other things, electronic books are a victim of their own success.  The market was stabilizing in terms of format, but now that there's so much money involved, that stability has been thrown away as retailers jockey for position in the market.

9094

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 03:19 PM »

And I think the only buy one only works if your razors will only use your blades.  In the book market, you are quickly finding that there is significant resistance to this paradigm, just as it was in music.  If the information isn't free, people at least want it to be semi-open.  And if not semi-open, then able to use open standards.  I frequent a nook site, and one of the big driving factors that is causing people (including me) to look at the iPad, even if it is the inferior reading device is the fact that it resists lock in.  iBooks doesn't, for sure, but there is Stanza (a completely open reader), Kindle for iPad, BN eReader for iPad, and now the Borders eReader for iPad.  So no matter what the publisher war results in, you're still able to read whatever book you want.  Not an ideal situation, but it's better than not being able to read a book because the device you're using couldn't get a license.  A recent example of this is the book Changes by Jim Butcher (in the Dresden Files series- highly recommended).  The only outlet for purchasing the digital copy was Barnes and Noble.  So a friend with a Kindle had to get the dead tree edition.  I personally use my iPhone currently to read, so I was able to download it for the B&N eReader and read it.

TL;DR version- DRM sucks.  But if you have to have it, I'm not going to let my purchasing of hardware and your sucky DRM keep me from getting a book I want to read.

9095

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 02:39 PM »

That's quite the limited and short-sighted view of the different markets, IMO.  Computers are about selling software?  That's *one* focus... but considering that Google doesn't sell any software, that would sort of place that outside of the scope of your list, no?  That's just one example...

9096

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 12:49 PM »

It's all about selling books.

-ljbirns (July 07, 2010, 12:28 PM)

Selling books is a consideration.  I don't think that anyone would deny that.  But it's not the only consideration.  If that was the case, the readers would have dropped long before now.  If that was the case, the previous attempts to enter the market wouldn't have failed/received such a lukewarm reception.

It's not all about selling books.  It's also about the medium that the books will take to the market, and the rights to get them there, more than it's ever been.

9097

Find And Run Robot / Re: What hotkey(s) do *you* use to trigger FARR?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 11:56 AM »

I use F11 on my desktop.  I've had to disable CTRL+SPACE and ALT+SPACE because of other considerations (IDE).

9098

Living Room / Re: How Steam turned a pirate into a paying customer

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 11:35 AM »

<soapbox>
Personally, I never pirated games because I make money developing software (some that were pirated), and I know I didn't want people to do the same to me, but to either decide to pay for the software, or just not use it.  That seems the better choice- either decide it's worth it an pay, or don't play.
</soapbox>

That said, those are my opinions on the subject, and that's all

9099

Living Room / Re: The eBook reader wars

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 11:07 AM »

It's all about market share.  If B & N could get 70 % of the market for e-readers and to do it they had to lose $ 20.00 on each reader they would do it in a heartbeat.

-ljbirns (July 07, 2010, 10:50 AM)

If that's truly the case, then why haven't they reduced the price again?  I think as long as they can make money on readers, they will keep it as high as they can, because that is *their* money, while for the books, they are beholden to another industry.  Just because they stock the physical books doesn't mean they will have the digital ones.

I'd suspect there's a little bit of a 'sense of entitlement' from the way you're asking the question.

-40hz (July 07, 2010, 09:28 AM)

Actually, not a sense of entitlement, as I do believe that they should be able to charge whatever they can.  But from the perspective of doing it so blatantly, and people actually joking on their side on the matter, it seems strange.

9100

Living Room / How Steam turned a pirate into a paying customer

« Last post by wraith808 on July 07, 2010, 11:03 AM »

http://www.crunchgea...-sweet-drm-kool-aid/

Personally, I never pirated PC games, but this guy speaks to a lot of what my frustration has been with PC games, especially the switching DVDs and entering codes.

All in all, an interesting article.