News
Sunday, October 26, 2003
As a person majoring in AI and EC, I find the following news quite interesting.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/61/33591.html
The fistory of AI has pretty much been like they have described, filled with too much hype and self-destructive bubble-popping. Whether or not we'll see true AI in our life time is a very good question, since, its been a common trend to prove that something everyone thought was AI to be not so AI. Thus, the community in itself is quite self-destructive due to competition. That in itself will not be changing in a long time. So, I am truly doubtful whether we will see "true" AI in our life time when no one can even agree on what "true" AI is.
The weekend is pretty much days off for everyone except people in the technology industry. There are no weekends when it comes to interesting tech news.
For starters, Microsoft is getting ready to show off the next version of Windows, Longhorn. However, as usual, the current build has been leaked. From what people say, it seems to be stable and looks quite pretty as well. As with all new versions of windows, it always gets flashier than the previous. Longhorn will not be breaking this trend. Read more about at http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12332 and http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/33590.html
Most people should know by now that Intel has dropped prices on their processors and according to tradition, AMD has dropped their prices as well. However, AMD's price cuts aren't really across the board, considering that they didn't touch the prices for the Athlon64s and Opterons. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12340
For all those gamers out there, it seems that Sony and Toshiba has been sued for infringing a 17 year patent in the PS2!? http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=2456
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Well, finally got some time to write a little bit....
It seems that some business analysts are saying that the microprocessor war between AMD and Intel is over, which I don't believe to be true and hope that it isn't true.
It seems that microsoft is going to be showing off its next version of Windows, Longhorn. Supposedly, they said it cost about as much to develop as putting the first man on the moon! Whether that is true and worth it, only time can tell. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12324
And for those of you who think their pen drives aren't already cool enough, you can always do what this guy did here....http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12310....
I wonder if it is more flammable now....
Guess there seems to be other reasons why Tablet PCs aren't selling well...http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/51/33566.html
Personally, I think tablet PCs are good ideas, but like all good ideas, they never get it right the first time or second time round. Currently, the problem is that they still consider tablet PCs to be PC. Why can't they shrink that thing's functionality down to something a little more advanced than PDA, yet less advanced than what it really is now, a slightly smaller notebook computer. I would say that for tablet PCs to really take off, there has got to be a cheaper and easier way to use them. Currently, they're just high tech toys for people who have too much time and some extra arm strength. As cool as it is to be able to surf the net while you're on the john, I still don't find that to be an incentive to actually get one.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Hmmm....guess there are more interesting news out there. Let's take a look at the Dilbert Awards!!!
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12277
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/shop/html/weasel_poll_results.html
There's definitely some up there that will make you smile, if not a sinister weasel like smile.
Seems like both Intel and AMD are going to cut prices. So let the price war begin!
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12268
Well, it seems that a spitting match has once again been initiated by Microsoft between the open and closed source communities over security.....http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/33522.html
Personally, I find that there is a rational logic behind saying that Linux is less secure. The ups and dows of open source is that people get to see everything. And being able to see everything, means that you get to figure out all the security issues more easily, than say closed source stuff. So, rationally, it may actually be easier to penetrate Linux security, just because you know how it works.
Finally, after long talks and presentations, Sony has shipped the PSX....http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/33514.html.
The pricetag, however, is another thing. Considering how much stuff it integrates, I guess its only natural for it to cost around $800. Oh well, this just means that I won't be getting one any time soon.
Man, Amazon.com is really booming. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/33510.html
On a side note, I seem to be an associate of Amazon.com, which means I probably should be putting up some of those ads. Oh well, since I just refixed the website, that can wait.
For more news about everything else.......http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/index.html
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Well, let's see what's news-worthy today. Wow, it seems that Symantec thinks that PCs are bad for our mental health....http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12253.
I guess in some ways they do have a point, since even patient peoplelike me who have sat in front of a PC for more than 10 years still get frustrated sometimes. However, in general, I still believe that if you love your PC, it will give something back in return. Of course, my computers have thrown tantrums before, but they were usually short lived. They say mass produced products are always the same, but my high school english teacher always said that each piece of electronics has its own personality. Considering I build my own PC, I certainly don't doubt that.
Some times you really wonder how congress never seems to get things right. Well, for one thing, they finally did get one thing right with passing this bill about discrimination based on genetic profile -> http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12246. Now if only they can think ahead like this and do something rational about copyright issues.
Monday, October 20, 2003
So, what's making my news today? Well for starters, there is the following article that has me quite perturbed.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12219
Now if you ask me, that is just completely wrong. Of course, my understanding of it is only based on the article's description, but throwing people who share files in jail is just a little extreme. However, as a programmer, I do know the importance of copyrights and how they affect my career as well, but then sometimes politicians go too far when trying to control something. There are certain things that will not go away. Piracy will not go away, both commercial and non-commercial. People will constantly be backing up stuff they own for one reason or another, and taking away that right is just fundamentally wrong. Unless you believe that an universal pay-per-play policy is profitable. And as things are going, that is where things will end up.
We will wake up one day and find that all the TV channels have nothing but commercials and you'd have to choose and pay for the "shows" that you want to watch. You order the show the time it airs, get charged for it, and will have no ability to record it, since by then PVRs, VCRs, and anything that you can hook up to a TV will probably not have the decryption codes to decode the broadcast. You turn on the radio and hear nothing but ads until you punch in your credit card number to pay for the broadcast. You turn on your computer and connect to the internet, but don't forget that you have to pay for content, so you'll be billed per website. You go to the music store to "buy" a CD which you'll be able to listen to, so 10 times, before it disintegrates. You might be laughing now, but this could very well be the future where everyone pays for everything in any form of entertainment. Hell, they'll probably have pay-per-read books with bought in internet and credit card swiper and electronic paper. But then I'm getting carried away.
In other news, we see that IBM seems to be behind Windows-64 and the Athlon 64, which is a good sign for my AMD stocks.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12236
Yes, the irony of one monopoly throwing muck at another......http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/33468.html.
In related headlines, it seems that Steve Jobs was right when he stated that Apple iTunes for Windows is the best windows app yet, since its been downloading a million times or so in the past 4 days. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/33485.html
Weeee.......
Acomplete website consisting of blog!!!
I guess this is the lazy man's way to getting and keeping a website up to date. Of course, I won't be writing in every section everyday, but some of the stuff is just nice to have around.
